Can I Carry Your Baggage For You?

Are all little children carriers? You know what I am talking about... little kids who carry random objects around every day, like mom's favorite pair of panties or dad's old used hanky?

All of my kids have been carriers in some way or another.

Well, Hope was more of a dragger... she used to tie string around the necks of her stuffed animals and drag them behind her everywhere she went. She had the string tied so tightly that if they were real animals we would have had to have them stuffed anyway after they had died from asphyxiation.

Aaron was a tucker... he used to tuck all kinds of things in his pockets. In the evening I had to empty his pockets and would find things like matchbox cars, marbles, dice, old crusty boogers, compost, and day old salami. You think I am joking.

Emma was a carrier... but she was a small time carrier. She would only choose one thing to carry-but the object changed from day to day. One day she would not be able to live without her baby doll, the next day she would have a melt down it I tried to take the ace of spades card away from her as that was her "carry" for the day, and I could tell you about the day Aaron saw the little old shoe piece from the Monopoly board game and tucked it in his pocket for the day without realizing that it was Emma's "carry" for the day and she had set it down for a mere second to go to the potty. I could tell you about that horrible frightful day... but I don't think I have the strength to go back and recount it yet. I still have nightmares.

Mary is a professional carrier. She will carry no less than 10 items every single day and she will have a melt down if she cannot get them all stuffed into her arms and balance them successfully as she manoeuvres through the house following me on my mundane tasks. An example of her treasures is FOUR... not one, but FOUR of her "nigh-nighs" which are little bits of blanket with an animal's head attached to it, one or two cups filled with soy milk or water (she likes variety in her drink) a book-and not your run of the mill little baby book that is small and square, no... she likes the BIG book that is in the shape of a duck, a puzzle piece (it is the horse piece-don't try and swap it out with the cow piece because she will know and she will cut you.) a naked Barbie (who is recently bald because of her disastrous hair appointment with a 6 year old) and the dog's collar-in case she needs to put it on the dog and drop all of the items in her arms and drag the dog around, in which case she becomes a dragger like her big sister.

I don't understand this.

It's not like I have to carry my cell phone around with me all day or I will freak out and start crying and throw myself on the ground and start kicking my legs and pounding my fists if I discover that I do not have it on me.

I only did that once I swear.

But then I found it in my back pocket and I was able to calm down.

No where near as neurotic as my children. The little maniacs.