Little Miss Sunshine...well, not quite

Originally posted 6/5/12

Funny little bit of insight into my youngest's psyche...

Arby's has new toys in their kid's meals from the Mr. Men Show (apparently). This has led to my children wanting to eat there more than usual. It took me two weeks or more to notice that it was all about the toys. Inside each small plastic bag is the character and a checklist.

A couple of Friday's ago, both kids were staying with Mark at the store to play D&D. They were very excited. I, who had been at the store for 9 hours, was less than enthusiastic. I wanted to leave, but I felt guilty at leaving Mark & the 'rents with both kids at work for another hour while I ran off free as a bee. To mitigate this guilt, I decided to take them for a quick dinner and bring them back closer to closing time. Where, you might ask? Arby's. As we ate, the kids enthusiastically played with their goofy looking little smiley-faced toys. They ate very well though, so I didn't think about it too much. I noticed as we were leaving, both kids grabbed their little advertisement/checklist off the tray.

Once we were back to the store, Matthew grabbed a pen and started writing on his checklist. Emma copied her brother and soon they were engrossed in assigning names to the character on the sheet. They finish their character assignations and excitedly exchange their lists. The conversation goes something like this:

"Aw Emma, thanks for making me both Mr. Strong & Mr. Happy! That's really nice of you." ~Matthew
"Matthew, you made me Little Miss Chatterbox? I don't like Little Miss Chatterbox! I don't chatter. I don't like her. You know my favorite is LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE! Did you make me both like I did you? Why would you make me Little Miss Chatterbox? I don't like being called a chatterbox!"

"No, I thought I wo...."~Matthew

"MATTHEW! YOU MADE PAYTON LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE? WHY WOULD YOU MAKE PAYTON LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE? YOU KNOW SHE'S MY FAVORITE!  I SHOULD (**POONK**) BE (**POONK**) LITTLE (**POONK**) MISS (**POONK**) SUNSHINE!" ~Emma (the (**POONK**)'s being Emma punching Matthew in the gut).
"EMMA! EMMA! STOP HITTING ME! MOM, EMMA'S (**OW**) HITTING (**OW, STOP IT**) ME! (**OW, THAT'S ENOUGH, OW**)!"

"What's going on here, Emma? Why are you hitting your brother in the gut?" ~Me

"We were telling who we thought each of the characters were like and he put me as (**POONK**) LITTLE MISS CHATTERBOX (**POONK**) INSTEAD OF LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (**POONK**). HE KNOWS LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE IS MY FAVORITE (**POONK**)!!!" (weeping ensues).

"Oh my gosh, Mom! She won't stop hitting me!" ~Matthew.

"Well Matthew, I think you need to admit that your sister is more of a Little Miss Sunshine, than a Little Miss Chatterbox. (quietly, under my breathe)~Before she pummels you into dirt." ~Mom

"Emma, maybe your brother would think you were a little more sunshine-y if you weren't punching him in the gut so much all the time?" ~Mom

"He knows I'm SUNSHINE-Y (**POONK**) ~Emma

"Emma, no more punching!" ~Mom

"Emma, you can be Little Miss Sunshine, I'm sorry I put Payton there where you should be. Can you please quit hitting me now? (**OW**) Stop it!" ~Matthew

Yes, eventually, I addressed the hitting is wrong aspect of this scene. Yes, she had consequences for punching her brother, but first, I had to go in the back room and laugh til I cried at the irony of this:

I SHOULD (**POONK**) BE (**POONK**) LITTLE (**POONK**) MISS (**POONK**) SUNSHINE!"

Here's the little slip out of the toy: