It Takes A Village To Wake A Child

A village, a marching band or just one really determined mother and best friend. Tonight while talking online with my best friend Vicki, I began to tell her about the outfit I was wearing that day. I got to "capri pants" when a thought struck me about how her daughter used to call capri pants something in particular, but I couldn't remember. When I asked her, "What does Mina call Capri pants??" she couldn't remember either.

After about 2 minutes I said, "Go wake Mina up and ask her." Mind you, it was 11:30 at night and Mina had already been sleeping soundly for about three and a half hours. But as soon as the words were out of my mouth, Vicki said "I was just thinking the same thing!" And because we just could NOT wait until morning to get this information, Vicki said "I'll be right back" and went to wake Mina up.

This is most likely what she looked like before her evil mother threw on the light and gently shook her awake before asking, "Mina, can you get up and talk to Mommy for a minute?" Mina's eyelids fluttered unsteadily as she tried to keep them open to comprehend what her mother was saying. After Vicki repeated the question several times, Mina shook her head "NO" and her eyes quickly closed as she feel back to sleep.

Now because I don't have children, I thought the request to "just go wake her up and ask her" was completely reasonable. Half of me expected Vicki to respond with a resounding "No way!", but since I know Vicki so well and we're convinced we share a brain, the other half of me just knew that she was actually considering my stupid request and that with a little prodding, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

Most mothers would have looked at me like I had three heads, but not Vicki. And as far as her children go, I have witnessed them sleeping through power tools and machinery in the hallway, bright lights overhead being flicked on to make sure that they actually were sleeping and a TV so loud, that the neighbors could have heard the re-runs of Friends.

I have been there many times when these children wake up and know for a fact that they are more charming than a Southerner at a cocktail party, so I really had no qualms about waking Mina to get an answer to our burning question. As expected, she was pleasant but not very forthcoming with the information that we obviously needed RIGHT. THAT. SECOND.

Alas, we had to wait until morning. But you know the first thing Vicki asked Mina, before she even had a chance to finish her bowl of Cocoa Puffs was, "Mina, what did you used to call Capri Pants?"

Without blinking an eye, that sweet child replied, "Sapri Pants, Mommy" and went right back to her cereal.