Likes and Dislikes

Margaret and Clara are both developing preferences for....everything. I thought it would be fun to share a list of likes and dislikes before I forget.

Keys, bags, purses, Mama's shoes, lipstick and lip balm, nail polish, hair care products and camisoles. Dora undies. Going to the library. Max and Ruby. Little Bear. Madeline. Mama's side of the bed. Getting under the covers. Jumping on the bed. Walking through the grocery store aisle. Helping Daddy with any project, from finding ants to fixing the porch. Painting with a paint brush. Pencils. Drawing. Books, reading and re-reading. Drawing on the walls. Brushing teeth. Drinking milky coffee. Cooking. Wearing an apron. Stirring eggs. Helping Margaret. Root beer. Olives. All nuts, from pine nuts to pecans. Finding pecans. Hats of all sorts. All animals. Collecting leaves. Finding a great stick. Walking with a great stick. Watching bugs. Trains. Doing yoga with Mama. Waffle House. Being covered and tucked into her crib. These are Clara's big likes.

Here are Margaret's: looking at photographs. Reading alone and with Mama. Visiting other people's houses. Eating grilled cheese sandwiches at the neighborhood lunch counter. Finding a great stick. Sitting with Mama in church. Milky coffee. The crib, high chair and car seat, basically, any place removed from Clara. Being with Mama. Holding hands. Water. In the sink, the hose, the bathtub or a pool, lake or ocean. Cats and horses. Hair care products. Her kitty shirt (a shirt with a faded yawning kitten that is too small). Her pink pajamas. Watching Little Bear. Max and Ruby, specifically, Max. Reading anything by Rosemary Wells, like Voyage to the Bunny Planet. Lacing animals. Wearing Mama's shoes. Beating bushes with sticks. Swings and swinging. Acrobatics. Doing yoga with Mama. Walking to Earth Fare. Spinach risotto. Tofu. Rice of all sorts. Any kind of egg dish. All fruit except cherries. Broccoli. All kinds of soup. Popcorn. Stuart. Dancing and ring-a-round-the-rosey. Brushing her teeth. Waffle House, talking on the phone.

Their dislikes are similar: raised voices, Mama going to yoga or working in her office too much, strangers who touch them, wolves, having to hurry, Mr. McGregor, water in their eyes, the church nursery, being told "No," having Daddy fix their owies with Bedadine. The big one is being told no, being thwarted. Isn't that a drag for everyone?