Don't They Already Have Animals?

Picking your battles is a crucial lesson to learn.  This lesson isn't just for parents, but it does become tricky when the battles are being waged with little people whose rationalization skills are still at the preschool level.

It becomes even trickier when those preschool rationalization skills best my grown-up reasoning skills.

We were packing up our things for a zoo trip with our friends Stacy, Connor, and Madison, when I noticed Abbey clutching her current favorite stuffed friend, Grampage Hooligan Ruffie.  I've recently ditched the diaper bag and am enjoying the newfound freedom of only carting around a quarter of my body weight in gear instead of my usual everything-but-the-kitchen-sink. 

I'm fine with Abbey bringing her Lip Smackers, because who doesn't love vanilla chapstick, but stuffed animals?

I quickly formulated my iron-clad argument:

"Abbey, we don't need to bring GHR to the zoo.  They have enough animals there already."

"Not dogs," she said, stubbornly.  And correctly, the smarty-pants.

I switched tactics.

"Well, no, you're right.  But you can't bring dogs to the zoo.  They'll either scare the other animals or get scared themselves."

"Oh Mommy," she sighed, "Grampage Hooligan Ruffie isn't real.  He can come with us."

And that is how I ended up carting around a stuffed dog around the zoo.  Thankfully, he rode in the stroller instead of "walking with his leash," a clever contraption consisting of some ribbon and a fabric measuring tape.

checking out the prairie dogs 

again with the prairie dogs

I never knew they were so interesting 

Grampage Hooligan Ruffie made it out of the stroller for lunch

I'm slightly mortified to say that she PICKED that flower and put it behind her ear

I'm pretty sure last year I commented on a picture about another little girl picking the zoo's flowers

there's a karmic lesson there, a little one, but it's there 

judging how close I actually am and how far he might make it before I catch him