Who's Gary?

Just hope he's not hiding under your bed. Lately, Jarrah is very invested in Gary's whereabouts:

Sam: Guess what! We're going to the fair on Tuesday.
Jarrah: But not Gary.
Sam: No, not Gary.
Jarrah: Not Gary, okay?
Sam: Nope. No Gary.

After some trial and error, I've contextualized that Gary is actually "scary." How she came up with the idea that things are scary, I don't know. As I was explaining to Teresa while we were in Ohio, I'd hoped not to project my irrational fears onto my child by programming her with the meaning of "scary" or "scared." I just feel she's entitled to her own feelings, rather than having to inherit (ha!) mine. The exception to this lofty plan is cars: cars are scary, and they will SMOOSH you. That's right--SMOOSH--so hold my hand.

Gary is not the only code word around these parts. There's also "The Dark Side." As in, we are out to dinner and when we leave the restaurant, it's become "The Dark Side." She proclaims The Dark Side with a gasp of awe and appreciation--there's no telling when The Dark Side will manifest.

"Fish Fingers" wasn't terribly opaque, but I wish I didn't find it quite so charming. In England they have fish sticks, but they're called "Fish Fingers," rather like our Chicken Fingers here (those saucy Brits!) We know this linguistic variance because we've heard it on Charlie and Lola, but Jarrah has made the expression her own. She will grudgingly wield her fork for the first few bites of any dish, but when that conveyance becomes too taxing, she'll gaze up from beneath her lush lashes and inquire sweetly, "Fish Fingers?" If we say "Okay..." the fork is sent packing and her more expedient fist extracts half a bowl of penne in a single swoop. "Fish Fingers" is why we go through the jumbo box of Costco wipes every month.