Shooflies and Fairy Dust

The other night I and the girls were seated in the dining room actually dining. I can't remember what was on the menu, but I do remember the conversation.

Emme was self-satisfied because she had helped me prepare the meal while Celeste was upstairs playing computer games. Emme was pretending that she was the chef and that her name was "Sophia". Chef Sophia soon became tired of her name and decided to change it to an old time favorite - "Butterfly Kite". This frustrated Celeste to no end.

"What? Why can't you be Sophia? Why do you always have to be Butterfly Kite?"

I could not convince Celeste that Emme was still the same character, just with a different name. Celeste was becoming more and more furious. Emme was implacable. She was NOT Sophia the chef anymore. She was Butterfly Kite, and that was final.

After dinner, Butterfly Kite went upstairs to "The Tchiken" to get dessert. Meanwhile, Celeste looks at me and frowns profoundly. "Why does she have to be so, so EMME-ish!" she says.

Emme comes back downstairs and plops in front of us a small board book ladened with pink Mega blocks and a toy cake. "It's Shoofly Cake", she says. "It's made with Shooflies." she explains looking me in the eye. "They're dead."

Celeste perks up and asks for a slice.

I ask for a slice too. "Where did you get the Shooflies from?" I ask, sincerely curious to know. Emme looks at me blankly. "From The Tchiken"

"Oh! I know where she gets them from!" Celeste calls out, now in a better mood.

"I'll go get some." Emme says and runs up stairs.

Celeste's glowers once again. "I wanted to get them. I was going to get a piece of Swiss Cheese. I was going to say that you squeeze the Shooflies out of the holes right onto the cake." Delicious.

Emme comes back with her hands in fists. "Here they are! She pronounces and opens up her tiny hands with a flair. I swear I could see fairy dust and Shooflies tumble out like the roses from Juan Diego's poncho.

"oooooohhh! I KNEW she'd do that!" Celeste growls. "I liked MY idea better!"

I guess I could take my Shooflies from either girl any time.