Clarissa Explains It All...

Clarissa has an interesting way of looking at the world and of expressing herself. An example…recently Clarissa got a new pink baby doll. She very quickly chose a name for her doll… “Bacon”. Now, I have to admit that I think it is kind of a good name. I mean, what is better than bacon. If names are supposed to mean something, what’s wrong with naming something after the most yummy thing in the world. There are people named Candy, Olive, Alfredo, Kobe, Sage, Ambrosia, Cookie, Honey, Ginger, Rosemary, Frank, Colby and Kale. In that context, Bacon doesn’t seem that strange. In fact, according to Babycenter.com, Bacon has seen a huge surge in popularity in recent years.

But I digress. Yesterday, as we were getting ready for church, Clarissa was playing with Bacon next to the stairs. She started rattling Bacon’s head along the bars on the banister similar to how a prisoner would rattle a tin coffee cup along his cell bars. I was a little concerned with the way she was treating her baby and explained to her that she needed to be careful with her baby so she wouldn’t get hurt. Clarissa quickly explained back to me matter-of-factly, “Daddy, Bacon is not a people. She is a toy, so I don’t have to be careful”. She had a good point; I guess it’s good she can make the distinction.

Later at church I had to take Clarissa out of Sacrament meeting for being rowdy. We’ve really been trying recently to establish some good behavior during Sacrament Meeting. Clarissa usually does a pretty good job, but sometimes she gets a little too wiggly and loud. So while I sat with her in the lobby, I explained to her that if she wanted to go back into the chapel she had to behave herself and be good and reverent. After she had settled down and we sat back down in the chapel I gently reminded her to behave. She turned to me with a concerned look and said, “I want to be a people. I don’t want to be a have” (pronounced “Haive” as in be-have).