The Seemingly Arbitrary List of Things in Our House that Belong to May, According to Eli
1. The chair at the dining room table that she sits in when she’s here
2. Every mug we own, because she may have once drunk her tea from it
3. The black rocking chair in the living room (it actually did come from her house so this one I get)
4. All his books that have her handwriting inside the front cover
5. The guest room
6. The stuffed dinosaur he has
7. The dinosaur stickers that he plays with as he gets his diaper changed
One morning this week as we were blearily sitting down for breakfast, Eli tells Rachel she can’t drink out of the coffee mug she has because it belongs to May (this is what Eli calls Stephen’s mom). I thought for a moment he was actually going to throw a tantrum about it.
Sometimes I wonder what else is on his mental list and I wonder why he doesn’t keep such a long one for the rest of us. The only thing he consistently points out for Stephen is HIS dining room chair. The only thing he points out as belonging to me are my Birkenstocks. He knows that other things around our house came from other people. He recognizes that my dad bought him a keyboard for Christmas. He knows that his favorite stuffed duck and his favorite pirate book came from my mom. He knows Nanny bought him his favorite Blue’s Clues video and that Tim gave him a stuffed bunny. But I can only surmise that it is by the Mighty Power of the GrandParent TM that he keeps such a long list for May.
I am by no means complaining (and no it’s not just because she reads this site), I just find it fasinating that he has latched onto this list of things that are “hers”. I guess when he sees these objects they bring back pleasant memeories for him. And really, isn’t that just the best thing about grandparents?
That and they let you eat ice cream anytime you want.
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Comment by May
I got such a chuckle over this when I read it. I too am in awe of this. I can’t explain it at all. Little did I realize that Eli was paying attention to the mugs I drank from; chairs yes, because he directs me to “my” chair, but mugs? And yes I admit that I will allow him to have ice cream before meals one day.
Posted on April 21, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Comment by Rachel
I think he’s gonna start charging, “Rachel, you must pay $.05 per sip if you’re going to use May’s cup.”
Posted on April 21, 2006 at 3:05 pm