I found the shoe to Ari’s doll Gracie underneath our desk.
Me: “Oh, look, Ari! I found Gracie’s shoe! Gracie is somewhere unshod.”
Ari: “Yeah!”
Me: “Do you know what ’shod’ means?”
Ari: “Yes.”
Me: “Oh? What does it mean?”
Ari: “I don’t know.”
Me: “If I have Gracie’s shoe right here, and Gracie doesn’t have any shoes on, and I say she’s ‘unshod’, what do you think that means?”
Ari: “Coconuts!”
“When are they gonna stop sending us Hope?”
“Is Hope cheap yet?”
“We have enough Hope!”
“We need more Hope over there, it’s empty inside.”
“Someone bring us some Hope.”
“No one wants this Hope.”
“Hope is old news, we can’t get rid of it.”
“Just put all the Hope over here so someone will want it.”
“Why does no one wants our Hope?”
“Hope still costs too much, no one wants her at that price.”
Me: “Ariana, what would you like for Christmas?”
Ari: “Um, presents please.”
Me: “Okay, what kind of presents would you like?”
Ari: “Blue, I think.”
Me: “Okay, but there’s going to be something inside the actual box.” (she looks at me quizzically.) “Like, there will be a present, and a box, with wrapping paper on it, but then you’ll open the present, and there will be something inside, like on your birthday. What would you like to be inside?”
Ari: “Um, cake! Yummy birthday cake.”
Me: “Well, you’re going to get lots of sweets, but those aren’t really presents. You can get toys and things like that. What kind of toys would you like?”
Ari: “No toys right now. Just presents and cake.”
Me: “Okay, but you’re already getting cake. And there’s going to be something inside the present for you to play with, something fun. What would be fun for you to play with? What kind of toys or dolls do you like? What would you like inside your present?”
Ari: “Oh! Dolls! I like dolls. They will be fun. They will come in my house and we will play with them and have lots of lots of lots of fun!”
Me: “Oh, good!” (she has a Bitty Twin in the closet waiting for Christmas morning.) “What kind of doll do you like?”
Ari: “Um, I think chocolate is yummy.”
Me: (falls over laughing)