He starts flipping through it and has to give me a play-by-play of everything that strikes his fancy. "Oh! Look, Mama! Toys! Mama! Zebra!" I give him half-lucid "mmhmms" and he's satisfied. He disappears from the room, only to return in a ball of excitement. "Oh, Mama! Look at the camfras (cameras)! Look, Mama!" He starts jabbing his chubby little index finger at thumbnails of "camfras" for sale. "Look! Blue camfras, pink camfras, black camfras, gray camfras, and...oh, Mama!" He stops at this lime green atrocity. "Oh, Mama! A GREEN camfra! I want that one!" Jab, jab. I chuckle, but find he's quite serious. "We have to find money and buy that green camfra, Mama!" At this point, I'm worrying that I may have accidentally taught my son some sort of materialism, since we're always talking about camera gear and when we're going to buy it. "But we don't have that kind of money, baby, " I tell him. "That camera is $189.99. We don't have that." His eyes droop for a moment, and then, as if a miniature lightening bolt had struck his little brain, they grew large again and he was gone out the door.
I heard him pound around the living room for quite some time, in desperate search of something, muttering something to himself. Finally, he returns, one small, shiny dime in his hand. "Here's some money, Mama! Now we can buy it!" He then places the meager dime on top of the picture of the camera, as if he was staking a claim. I laughed, "But baby, that's only a dime. That camera's worth a lot more than a dime, I'm afraid." He looks at me confused, and then says, pointing at the dime on the page, "But Mama, it's right there. I found the money. Let's go buy it!"
Let me just tell you, if you haven't done this before - trying to explain the value of things and how money works to a two-and-a-half-year-old isn't easy. Especially when that two-and-a-half-year-old is completely convinced that his shiny dime is more than enough to cover the cost of a $189.99 camera. Finally, I directed his attention to his birthday and told him that we'll see what he gets. Time for a kiddie cam already? Of course, that makes this photog-mom's heart jump for joy, but, of course, he'll only be three. But never too early to start, right?
This story was just too cute not to share and I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed watching it unfold in front of me. I'm sorry I don't share more of these tidbits, but finding the time or creative energy to write is difficult - and most of the tidbits I have to share involve Rob's thoughts on bodily functions and the toilet.
Again, I will get to Drew's birthday post...eventually. I've been rather drained lately and my enthusiasm for blogging has diminished considerably over the past month or so; aside from posting pictures and quick updates. I try to do what's most important first and by the time I'm done with that, my energy and pizazz is gone. I know things will get easier with time, or so I'm told, but right now, it's still pretty hectic. Off to go see what Drew's into...now.
