The Taylor Five

The Collector

Finch tried on his red cowboy hat one night, and he looked so cute that I decided he must dress up as a cowboy for the fall festival this year. Which prompted me to ask the other kids what they want to be. Marianne replied with no hesitation — which I thought was strange since we haven’t talked about costumes in almost a year —that she wants to be a PINK flamingo, and in case I didn’t know what that was, she fluttered her arms with great expression. “And next year I will be a red ladybug, and the next year I will be a SCARY crocodile!” Huh??? Wilson thought for only a moment before deciding that he wants to be the Collector, who is the ultimate bad guy from The Little Big Planet (video game). I suggested that maybe he wanted to dress up as Sackboy instead (because he’s a much cuter character, though I didn’t use that tack to persuade him). “NO, I want to be the Collector.” All right, so that’s two costumes that are definite home-mades. One of you grandmothers reading this needs to start making patterns. (The first to respond gets to choose which costume you want to make!)

Marianne, looking at an insect field guide: Mommy what are those ants carrying?
Dana: It’s their food.
M: Must be some pumpkin pie or cake. Because ants LOVE pumpkin pie and cake.
* * *
Recent instances of Finch’s confusion with gender:
“Mommy, you strong boy, aren’t you?”
Whispered while giving me a hug “You sweet boy”
“Mommy, you always good boy?”
* * *
Marianne is inspired by pretty color combinations, regardless of the subject. Outside a store one day, she said with passion, “Look at the fire hydrant! Isn’t it beautiful?!” It was indeed a lovely combination of red, yellow and green.
* * *
Mighty Machines inside jokes:
* Walking across a parking lot, Finch looked up at a lightpole; his eyes got big as saucers and he said, “Mommy! That a BIG SMOKESTACK!”
* Whenever one of the older kids points out a water tower, Finch says with some puzzlement, “It not falling down!”