Friday 25 March 2011

My Daughter the Crow

Oooo... sparkly!

Gigi loves shiny, sparkly things. It’s not a new affliction. This is something that has been going on for a very long time, but now her favorite color has aligned with it. Once, she loved blue. She was all about blue. Seriously, she was. If she did not wear blue every day, she would get upset. It made for interesting days sometimes. (Have you ever tried to find blue clothes for a little girl? It’s gotten easier, but for the most part, everything is pink, pink, pink.) When asked what colors she liked, her answer was always the same: blue. All others paled in comparison. It may seem that I am going on and on and on about this (and I am), but her love affair with blue was such that we believed her first car would be blue. (At one point, she wanted blue hair and whenever she had her face painted, her face was…you guessed it: blue.)

Back to the shiny, sparkly things. One day, we were walking back from the park--she must have been three or so--and scattered all over the ground was a bunch of shiny, blue, metallic confetti. We had to stop and pick up every single piece she saw. My pockets were loaded down with this trash. Unlike many three year olds, she had a great memory. When we got home, she insisted I hand it over so she could add it to her stash of shiny things.

The other day, when I picked her up from school, we were walking home when she pulled me to a stop, said, bent down, and picked something up. She handed me one of those plastic jewelry stickers (no longer sticky).

“Look how it sparkles in the sun,” she said.

(And, yes, she does talk like that. g)

I looked down at this tiny sticker. It was no bigger than 1/8”, and I wondered how she had seen that with all the masses of people walking around. That was when I realized that my daughter is part crow. It’s the only explanation. (And yes, this sticker did make it’s way back to our house into her stash of shiny things.)

This attraction to sparkly things has only grown. It has grown to the point that her favorite color has changed to--can you guess?--that’s right, gold and silver. Gold first, of course. (I’m not sure if these are really her favorite colors because when she’s tired she still wants blue. HAHAHAHAHA)

I do have vague recollections of being enamored of shiny, sparkly things as a child. And I do think that at some point, my favorite colors were gold and silver, too. Matter of fact, I distinctly remember using the gold and silver crayons to color any a number of things (even animals) and usually being disappointed that the gold and silver colors on the page were never shiny or sparkly enough. (g)

Now, a couple of Gigi’s friends really like gold and silver, too. So, it makes me wonder if this attraction is something that is hard coded into women’s DNA. (That’s our excuse, right?) I eventually grew out of it. Oh, I still like gold (and diamonds and emeralds and rubies and…), but I don’t pick up a piece of trash because it’s shiny…at least not anymore. (g)

So, I have to ask: were you, or are your daughters/granddaughters, crows, too? Or are only some afflicted with this?

6 comments:

Dee Julian said...

Crow? No, not even close. Pack rat, that's my Amber. She keeps everything. Her excuse? One day she might have need of it.

To my knowledge, the only shiny thing lying on the ground that my daughter ever stopped to pick up was, you guessed it, money. Turns out she has a keen eye for coin, and it followed her into adulthood. She works for Brinks in one of their massive vaults.

Marci Baun said...

Mine is also a pack rat, although she did shock us the other when we went through some of her old toys, and she willingly gave them up. That being said, there is no question she saves things that she doesn't need.

That's not a bad trait to have, Dee. (g) I'm open to being a money magnet. (g)

Faith Bicknell said...

Holy cow, Marci! She finally gave up blue???? Call Guinness! Alert them immediately! LOL!

What's her fave color now?

Marci Baun said...

Gold, Faith. She's completely converted to crowism. (g) Seriously, though, although she claims her favorite color is gold, when she's tired, she still gravitates toward blue. So, I think this is really a "fake" favorite color. (g)

Faith Bicknell said...

LOLOLOL! I thought you were just kidding about gold being her fave! Well, have fun finding gold clothing for her, but that explains their fascination with your formal gown the other day!

Marci Baun said...

Oh, she would wear it, but finding it is impossible, and she doesn't seem to care that much. (g) Her favorite things to wear are rainbow-striped pants, socks, shirts, etc. The louder, the better. I'm a bit envious because I like the colors, too. Of course, on a little girl, it looks adorable. On me, I'd just look like a crack pot. (g)