A friend of mine who just delivered her second child a little over a month ago gave me (what I thought) was a good idea: take Kwabena to Build-a-Bear and let him pick out a gift for Ohene. Picking out a sibling gift is a good idea because it helps to the older child to be involved with the infant; giving a gift to the older sibling from the baby helps the older child not feel left out.
So yesterday we headed to Build-a-Bear, and Kwabena got to pick out a gift. First he picked a very affordbale $10 chocolate-brown bear. I thought, “Good, it’s only $10.00….pretty basic.” Then he saw with “Camo Bear”–basically a camouflage bear dressed in military clothing. It was actually pretty ugly, LOL, but I didn’t want to discourage him from getting what he wanted to pick out for the baby.
Luckily, I was able to steer him to something I knew he would like better–a very cute white and brown Jack Russell Terrier. It was $22 (over-priced, if you ask me…), but I knew it would win him over, since he was just saying that morning that the current stuffed animal friends he has (Sammy, a dog; Blue Bear, a blue bear; and Brownie, a little grayish-brown bear) needed a new dog added to the group. He said that Sammy needed a doggie friend. LOL
So of course he liked the Jack Russell Terrier. He named him “Buttons.” Funny, because I think I had told him a long time ago that Nanny used to have a dog named Buttons. Odd he picked that name, but very cute!
We waited in line forever to stuff the dog and pay for him. And then wouldn’t you know that we left the damn box on the counter when we stopped to buy a slushy? LOL It wasn’t until we were in the parking lot of the mall when Kwabena said, “Hey, where’s Mittens?” I was like, “Oh, shoot! We forgot him! And his name is Buttons, not Mittens!” LOL Luckily, it was there when we got back upstairs to the slushy kiosk! I think my mind must have been preoccupied with the asshole man who had the nerve to make a smart comment about Kwabena walking down the wrong side of the stairs. I responded, and the man had the nerve to say, “Mind your business!” I don’t know why he said that about minding my business (hey, this is my child, afterall, buddy), but I think I threw in there about how SOMEONE must be having a crappy day or something.
And the man had the nerve to be standing at the top of the stairs, STILL staring at me meanly (with his son, if you can believe that!), and I reached out my hand and tapped my chest, like, “What?–What?” Shit, don’t press a protective, pregnant lady, pal…..
Anyhow, after the mall (where we also went to the pet store), we drove to Centenniel Park for 45 minutes of play. So cute how Kwabena is so interested in making friends on the playground. A couple times I heard him randomly ask a child here and there, “Hey, wanna be my friend?” Most of the times the kids just stared at him, or didn’t know how to respond, so he would run off. I felt so bad for him that I went to him and told him *I* would be his friend. LOL. He did end up finding a little friend to run and play with a few minutes before we left. He just stuns me how he will talk to any little child. He’s so outgoing! I also worry that he could be TOO outgoing, and that he might set upself up for being hurt and rejected when he comes across kids that DON’T want to be his friend, for whatever reason (like that previous playground incident).
After the park, we went to Super Fresh to buy groceries, and then to Nana Ba’s house, where we met Kwasi there.
Funny–when we got home, Kwabena said, “Hey, I got an idea! How about *I* keep Buttons, and I can give Sammy to Ohene?” LOL……Yeah, I could foresee this little “problem.” More than likely, I’ll let him keep Buttons, and just give Sammy to Ohene. Ohene won’t know the difference. LOL. And plus, it will be a gift from the heart–from big brother to little brother. We shall see. Or, hell, Kwabena might surprise us and decide to give the dog to his baby brother anyhow!
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