Imaginary Boyfriend's, Chess, Friendly's and IKEA

This week Aliya was talking about 'Eric' a lot so I asked who Eric was. She sorta let out a sigh and a giggle at the same time and said, "Oh Eric is my imaginary boyfriend. He is so fast and when he runs he forgets where the finish line is." I also got from her ramblings that Eric is a good boyfriend. They hang out a lot, he is a good listener and her brother likes him. All good things of course. I got thinking...I gotta get me one of those! I mean what do I have to lose? I think mine would jump from airplanes and write me messages in the clouds. Oh, to be 6 years old again!
On another Aliya note, we set a goal together this week. You see, Princess Aliya doesn't pick up her toys (I mean what Princess does right?) and this girl plays hard! She mixes and matches, cuts and pastes, and borrows from anything in sight. This means we have rocks, gems, Barbie's, cars, scrap pieces of paper, books, dice from a game, crayons, a puzzle piece, and you name it-we could probably find it in her creations. Then she moves to another room or another floor for another experiment, usually bringing her very expensive poodle along! I'm sure she has fun and I am all for her imagination running wild, but I am nanny Tarsha, not maid Tarsha! So I asked her what place she would like to go to that would be special and fun for her. She said "do you know a place called IKEA?" I laughed that a 6 year old would even want to go to IKEA but thought I would capitalize on it. We decided that if Aliya picks up her toys for 5 consecutive days, she will earn a trip to IKEA with me. We talked about taking care of things where they belong (like things with like things- not all of it in one box), a time limit (she gets distracted and begins creating again) and 5 days in a row (if she does it for 3 days and then not on the 4th, it starts over). She seemed ok with all the clauses and we made a deal. She told me to use my phone to find directions. I hope to be going there soon!

Matthew and I went to the library on Thursday. After story time, we 'played chess'. Seeing as I don't have a clue how the game is played and Matthew doesn't either (he just thought the horses were cool), we moved the pieces around jumped over each others. Somehow Matthew won and I'm okay with that. But I laughed and grabbed my camera when he started looking strategically as if to say "what piece do I move next?" Matt loves Friendly's because he likes the Ice Cream. His favorite is the chocolate with M&M's. I know this because he has mentioned it MANY times. Today, after I picked him up at pre-school, we went to Walmart to look at birthday party supplies for his 4th birthday on October 4th! Guess what is in the parking lot of Walmart? You guessed it -Friendly's! I asked Matthew if he would like to go on a lunch date with me there. He said yes, but also mentioned the neighboring restaurant, (the one with with golden arches a 1 year old recognizes and fake chicken nuggets) is where he goes with his family. Right, because McDonald's is a nice family restaurant and you shouldn't go there with your nanny. He thoroughly enjoyed his real chicken nuggets, one of my mini cheeseburgers, and his chocolate ice cream with M&Ms at Friendly's.

We have a lot of fun together playing the state game (we are learning 2 each week), trains, cars, eating, negotiating (he is a master negotiator!!) but I have come to the conclusion I will never be good enough or match Joycie in Matthew's eyes. Joycie this and Joycie that. Why did you change Joycie's room around? Why did you take Joycie's pictures down? Joycie is coming back someday! I want Joycie to do it, Joycie didn't do it that way. I have to laugh when he says these things because the poor little guy just misses Joycie and here I am taking her place. Aliya doesn't seem fazed by it and actually thinks her parents hired me to be her friend. I can handle that.