A doctor in the house

The other day, the girls were playing in their room with their zoo of stuffed animals. I heard Margaret echoing whatever Clara was saying. When I eventually went into their room, all the stuffed animals, maybe 20 of them, were lying on the floor with blankets, receiving blankets or clothes on them.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Mommy, I'm a doctor and I'm treating all these animals," Clara said.
"That's right, Clara's a doctor, she is," said Margaret, nodding.
"I had to give all these animals a shot so they would get better. And now they're resting."
I tiptoed out so as not to disturb the herd.
Later on in the morning, Margaret tried to retrieve one of her bunnies, when Clara snatched it away from her and said, "No! Tita, he's had a shot, and you have to hold him like this," she said, demonstrating how one holds an injured friend. As if he's going to be buried. Margaret nodded and said, "Oh, okay. Mommy, Clara's a doctor!"
The Doctor had an accident in her Big Girl Undies. Rather than put our ratty furniture at even greater risk, I decided to subject Clara to the indignity of a diaper. She was a good sport about it and didn't protest. But she came running up to me about an hour later, saying, "Mommy, change my diapers, because I don't want to get a rash. How would that look for a doctor to have a rash?"
Some days I am very amused. Other days, I feel as though I am negotiating with Hamas. Who's to say they haven't infiltrated our cribs? Negotiating with two wily three-year-olds is very tricky. We negotiate treats, books and activities. A friend gave us a DVD of Max and Ruby, a big sister bunny and her little brother bunny. We let them watch it for up to an hour. Margaret would happily watch it all day. When The Doctor settles down for a good viewing, she forgets to head to the bathroom and has accidents on the loveseat. (I have just learned how to thoroughly clean the cushion.) So we negotiate how long and when to watch. We negotiate holding hands--always in the street and crossing the street and when a car comes--and when to run--on grass, anytime.
Yesterday, an AJC friend came from Atlanta for the day. She wanted to see what I do with the girls. So we went to a nearby school playground, then to our neighborhood pharmacy, where we ate sandwiches at the lunch counter. The short order cooks know Clara and Margaret by name, and know they always want grilled cheese sandwiches. It's just their speed, and the egg salad is excellent. The three of us can eat lunch for less than five dollars.
From there, we went to Earth Fare, where they get pretzels and little bits of chocolate. We like to stroll the aisles, enjoying samples of chips and cookies, cheese and dips. Clara is very fond of dips of all sorts, while Margaret has never met a dairy product she didn't like. My pal was very amused. We then crossed the street to sit on the steps of a gift shop/toy store. The girls like to sit there and eat their treats. My friend wants me to adopt her.