Good Times

My 6yo niece, Kiki spent Valentine's Day Eve with me. Yes. If it wasn't a thing before, it is now. She was off from school because of PA day. I was off from work because I'm an adult and can do whatever I want. Umm. No. Not really. I took time off.

And what a joyous day it was! The child is a treat. I was treated to gems from the back seat of the car. And at the mall. And at home. They went a little something like these...

She: You know why I like Valentime's Day?
Me: ValentiNe's.
She: ValentiNe's. I have a problem with that word.
Me: Apparently. Go on.
She: On ValentiNe's Day, there's so much love. And gifts.
Me: Yeah, for someone special.
She: Well, for anybody, as long as you can give.

As we drove:

She: I was wondering, do you have a Valentine's Day gift for me?
Me: Umm, yes. We`re going home to prepare Ackee & Saltfish - and Festival!
She: Yes! This is the best Valentine's Day ever!

We stopped at the mall because I needed to. Really. Before attending to the purpose for the visit, however, I had to make a small detour into Shoppers. As it turned out, they had gone all...Valentiney. There were stuffed toys, chocolate, and stuffed toys with chocolate...everywhere! Kiki was like, well, she was a kid in a candy store. As we walked down one aisle, (alas, I had given in to her plea for "just one Valentine's Day present"), I heard her behind me:

She: I love you.
Me: I love you to, sweetie.
She: Oh, I wasn't saying I love you to you. I was reading the card on that toy.
Me: -_-
She: But, I love you too.
Me: I love you too. Hmph! Okay, let's pick a toy.

We went from one aisle to the another comparing toys - and prices. At some point, she started repeating after me, "These prices are ridiculous!" I decided to tone it down.

We finally narrowed it down to three little stuffed animals. Little. We had no idea what the price was for one of them. The cashier was gonna have to help us decide. Or so I thought. As soon as the cashier let us know that two of them were Beanie Babies, my niece was beside herself with excitement!

She: Okay. Okay. You choose.
Me: Which one do you want?
She: Just choose for me, please!

I related to her dilemma. Faced with the hard choice, she'd be there all day. So, I chose the purple and white giraffe - don't ask - and earned the title: Best Aunty for the Day. Booyah! (Smart girl. She's very careful with her superlatives re her aunts. She has several. Aunts - and superlatives.)

The icing on the cake at the mall, though, came after I'd completed the business I'd really stopped in for. Now, a new store is coming soon and it'll be on the ground floor. As part of the promotion, there's a ceiling-to-floor picture of a model's face. Standing next to it, Kiki looked rather small. I guess she was fascinated by that. She asked me to take a pic. I did. We made our way around the corner and there it was again - the model's face in larger-than-life depiction.

She: Aunty! Look!

[I turned to see what the excitement was about.]

Me: Eeeww!

I suspended my mild disgust long enough to take a pic. After all, it was the funniest thing I'd seen in a long time!

We got home and ate and watched Ever After High and did some story-telling - with the toys as characters - voice-overs and all. Before her afternoon nap, I wanted to capture the day with both of us, so I told her I wanted a selfie. (We were lounging on the couch, rocking our "bed hair".) I showed her the first shot, expressing my dismay at the state of my hair.

She: It's not important what our hair looks like. What is important is that we're spending time together.
Me: Yeah. You're right.

She was right. So, I have a pic with Kiki where we're both rocking our "bed hair".

Good times. Good times.



Claudia
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