Lost in Translation

My ultra middle child, Autie, has been a little emotional lately. Since school has started back up, she feels kind of left out being at home with the "baby" while the big kids are at school. Last night she was crying about some pillow my mom gave her and saying she just had to go and give it back to her. I figured she just needed to spend some quality time with Nana and then she'd be alright. So, this morning, I called my mom and asked her what her schedule looked like. We nailed down a time and then I handed the phone to Autie so Nana could tell her when she would be coming.

When Autie handed the phone back to me, I said, "What did Nana say?" She started rattling off all this stuff about a ball and blocks and a big castle. I told her to hold on while I finished talking to Nana. I said, "Mom, what in the world did you tell her?" She said that she simply told Autie that she had bowling this week so she would have to come next week. Autie asked her what bowling was and my mom told her that bowling is where you take a big ball and roll it down a long hallway and hit blocks and knock them down. Well, Autie stopped listening after she heard the words "big ball!" I'm sure she pictured a big beautiful ball with all the most popular princesses and their handsome princes dancing in the ballroom of a big beautiful castle.

I told my mom, "I can't imagine what she thinks your life is like, what with all the balls and castles and all. No wonder she wants to come stay with you. I hope she's not too disappointed."

I think they should name her generation the "princess generation" because sometimes I think that's all they think about!