Her

For Mother’s Day this year, my little sister, Lizzie (also known around these parts as Aunt Loulie) sat down with Olive and asked her a few questions about me. She did one of these for my birthday last year, too, and they’ve quickly become my favourite thing ever. It’s fascinating to see yourself through your toddler’s eyes…and also terrifying?

Behold, our Mother’s Day quiz 2016

Why do you love your mummy?
Because I love playing with her!

What is her favourite food?
Vegetables. Because her doesn’t eat meat because her doesn’t want to. (Accurate, Olive. And also, the way kids say “her” instead of “she” is one of the few grammatical errors that absolutely delight me, and I’m only slightly ashamed to admit that I rarely correct it. I will go blue in the face teaching her how to properly use the English language but when she says “her does!” I melt.

OK, fine. I also don’t correct her mispronunciations like “bafyoom” for bathroom, “escited” for excited, or my personal favourite, “magliflying glass”.)

What makes you and mummy alike?
We have the same lips, eyes, nose, and manners. (I don’t see a strong physical resemblance between Olive and I yet. We do have similar lips and blue eyes and body types – I was a sturdy, stocky little toddler- but I see far more of her extended family in her- the blue of her eyes is exactly the same colour as my mums, and her face shape and expressions remind me so much of my sister-in-law and her kids. She’s a chameleon this one.

This answer makes sense, though, because lately, she’s been very concerned about looking like me. If someone tells her she has blonde hair she points to how it’s slowly turning darker, “Like mummy’s”. She likes to match me when we get dressed [I have no idea where she got that from] and she likes to sit in the mirror and make funny faces at the same time.)

 

“We’re the same!”

A photo posted by Sweet Madeleine (@sweet.madeleine) on May 9, 2016 at 7:55am PDT

What is your favourite thing to do with your mummy?
Plant our garden. She doesn’t like watching movies with me. (No, this is true. I don’t. Because when I give in and she gets to watch movies, I am either going insane from nonstop toddler chatter or I need to get work done or sometimes both. Also why does everyone in toddler movies YELL all the TIME?)

How old is your mummy?
20. That’s a lot! Is it? (I love you, Olive.This way makes up for the time you said I looked like I had a baby in my tummy in that empire waist dress.)

What makes your mummy happy?
When I do good stuff.

What is a cool nickname for her?
Maybe Mum. (This makes me want to cry. When do they stop saying mummy and start saying, Mum, or Mom? Like, 28? 30?)

What is her favourite animal?
Her likes frogs. But I like frogs. Can I draw a frog? I’m good at drawing frogs. (This is a bold faced LIE. My feelings toward frogs are neutral at best. She is good at drawing them, though, I’ll give her that much.)

What does your mummy want for Mother’s Day?
Her doesn’t want anyfing! (She hit the nail on this one. I didn’t want a thing more than this ridiculous note, and her arms around my neck and mayyyybe a nap.)