When Presents go Wrong
My husband, as many of you know, is Jewish so we celebrate Chanukah which landed early this year. Caroline’s Birthday was just before the first night. On the first night of Chanukah, Caroline did not want to sit down for the candle lighting. She fussed her way through the entire ceremony. Then she got her present which was the birthday set of fisher-price Dora the Explorer figures. On the 2nd night she sat quietly for the candle lighting and got the animal rescue set of fisher-price Dora the Explorer figures. On the third night she sat through the candle lighting and got a book. She kept trying to climb back up in the chair after we told her all done. Peter finally figured out that she was saying Dora Dora Dora. I happened to have a 3rd set of the fisher price figures I was going to give her for Christmas at my parents house but the moment she got the figures she was so happy. Between her Birthday and Chanukah she now associates candle lighting with getting a present specifically associated with Dora.
Last night we lit the candles and passed out presents. I got her a Gund version of Swiper the Fox to go with all the other plush Dora she owns (including a child-sized version of Backpack). She opened the present and then freaked. I couldn’t figure out why. She went back into the living room and played with her toys. I brought Swiper in and she stared saying No! No! No! over and over again. Ariel said, “She thinks he is going to swipe her stuff.” Then the light dawned for me. Swiper is the villain of the piece. He grabs things away from Dora and Boots and hides them. Dora and Boots stop him by saying “Swiper no swiping.” Three times in a row. If Swiper succeeds then Dora and Boots have to go find the object he walked off with. Caroline is afraid that the stuffed Swiper is going to take stuff away. Of course showing her Toy Story probably didn’t help since it shows what happens with Toys when you are not there.
In terms of the rest of Chanukah, I have a DVD set I was going to use on the trip to Atlanta which has 4 disks. So I will give her one disk a night so she can have a Dora present each night of Chanukah. I’ll have to find something else for Christmas at my parents.
I am grateful that it is getting easier to understand what Caroline wants.
Last night we lit the candles and passed out presents. I got her a Gund version of Swiper the Fox to go with all the other plush Dora she owns (including a child-sized version of Backpack). She opened the present and then freaked. I couldn’t figure out why. She went back into the living room and played with her toys. I brought Swiper in and she stared saying No! No! No! over and over again. Ariel said, “She thinks he is going to swipe her stuff.” Then the light dawned for me. Swiper is the villain of the piece. He grabs things away from Dora and Boots and hides them. Dora and Boots stop him by saying “Swiper no swiping.” Three times in a row. If Swiper succeeds then Dora and Boots have to go find the object he walked off with. Caroline is afraid that the stuffed Swiper is going to take stuff away. Of course showing her Toy Story probably didn’t help since it shows what happens with Toys when you are not there.
In terms of the rest of Chanukah, I have a DVD set I was going to use on the trip to Atlanta which has 4 disks. So I will give her one disk a night so she can have a Dora present each night of Chanukah. I’ll have to find something else for Christmas at my parents.
I am grateful that it is getting easier to understand what Caroline wants.