The Story of Jacob, Esau...And Monica?

Pictured here, you see our newest family member.





What? You say you don't see anything? Then have you no imagination? That, my friend, is a picture of Monica. Our newest family member. Monica is the latest in a string of pretend friends that our youngest daughter, Nappy, has created. First there was her entourage (or what I liked to refer to as her Greek Chorus). That consisted of 2 brown bears, 1 polar bear, 2 frogs, an elephant and a little man named Mister Helen. They went every where she went, commenting, agreeing and supporting Nappy in all her endeavours.

Then came "tiny mommy". Tiny Mommy was only about 6 inches tall and just hung around for general support and comfort. Tiny Mommy also, often, didn't agree with real Mommy, but I'm sure Nappy had no real agenda with that.

Now, though, we have Monica. Monica is Nappy's dear older sister. At first she was 9 years old. The next day she was 96. Then 17, 24, 40 and 44 respectively. Though her age might change with the wind, her personality doesn't. She does anything Nappy asks of her, no matter what it is or how Nappy asks. If Nappy yells at Monica to clean her room, then, well, Monica jumps to it without a complaint.


For days, all I heard from Nappy was how wonderful Monica was. I learned how Monica always understood Nappy, always did exactly what Nappy asked and would spend her days doing nothing but complimenting Nappy. So, when Nappy needed some help with something, I responded with the obvious.

"Why don't you have Monica do it for you?"

"Mom," she replied with a slight roll of her eyes, "Monica can't do that. She's just pretend!"

When does fantasy stop and reality start? Apparently when you need help opening the lid of a metal tin can.

At any rate, Monica has been with us now for about a week. She's gone to the Boy Scout's Christmas Tree Sale, but left early because she got too cold (wimp!). She was late to a tea party because she had a fever (sure -- I think she's really just anti-social). And, she doesn't attend meals where there are mushrooms present. But, in general, she's always with us, conveying her opinions through Aly.

I might find this a bit odd, but I had a pretend friend when I was young. Her name was Honey and she was from Mars. Before you start laughing at me, remember, I didn't name her or make up her story. It's just how she introduced herself to me.

So, life with 6 kids has been interesting. We've also had a change in identity. Meet Jacob and Esau:
They may look like the Ballerina Princess and Green Bottle Boy, but really, they reflect a much more ancient story.

See, Green Bottle Boy had a camera. A nice camera. One that used to belong to another family member but was then passed on to him. Ballerina Princess wanted that camera because she loves to take pictures. The problem was the so does Green Bottle Boy.

So, last night, she goes strolling into his room swinging a bag of Christmas candy given to her by one of her teachers. The aroma of the chocolate made the mouth of Esau-- I mean Green Bottle Boy -- water. Within minutes, he had traded his camera for two small milk-dud sized pieces of chocolate.


"Uh...*****," I asked him, "don't you think that was a little foolish? You love that camera, and to replace it would cost at least $100."

"Oh no, mom," he replied, "That chocolate was really yummy."

Now, I'm not even sure where to start with this, because he really thinks it was a great deal. So, in the meantime, I'm going to just find out what Monica thinks about it all.

After all, she knows best.