What's Mad Like?

One of Evan's favorite things to do with Mama is to "play babies." This means we round up all his favorite stuffed animals-- the ones he keeps on his bed-- which include, in order of importance: a once-light brown-now-grayish little bear with withered satin bow around his neck, given him by Auntie Lala; Auntie Lala's 2o-year-old Pound Puppy (whose polyfill is so disintegrated the neck flops about like a wet noodle) which he stole from her during a visit to my mom and dad's house; a trio of doggy hand-puppets-- a brown one, inventively called "Brown Dog", a gray one, called "Gray and White Dog," and a black poodle-looking one with curly hair, called "Jerry Curl." We also have a big fluffy black and brown dog, given Evan by my friend Sue, who originally bought it for her cats to sleep next to, which he calls "Mama's Dog"; a little gray and black Beanie Baby kitty, a hand-me-down pet from a friend's stepdaughter; and lastly, the precious new addition of a tiger, whom Evan named "FBI."

All the above description to say that when we "play babies" this means that they have conversations with one another, on a variety of topics, such as making how to go pee-pee on the toilet, how to help with the dough, which cars are hot cars and which ones aren't, etc. The other day, the babies talked feelings. Here's how it went:

Evan, with his arms folded across his chest, lower lip sticking out: Me is mad right now.

Mama's Dog: What's mad mean? What's mad like?

Evan: Mad is like... no play with friends, and no park, and no Farmer's Market, no shows, no play music, and no songs, and no DVD's, and no ride bikes, and no hot cars, and no dance, and no stories and no library...

Evan, changing expressions: OK, me is happy now.

Mama's Dog: What's happy like?

Evan: Happy is like laughing and having fun, and playing with friends in the park.

Mama's Dog: Yes, I'm happy, too.

Every day with Evan is pure hilarity. He gives me a lot of insight into many things!