Kids We Love: Shy, Sassy Alice
Little Alice is as shy as they come. Quiet but independent, she bustles about on her own at Buddings, arranging a series of dishes at the lentil table.
“Alice,” I call gently, “It’s time to try the potty.” She looks up at me from her play momentarily, and where I would have expected her to quietly reach for my hand, she pauses. Then, as though some inner defiance suddenly switches on inside of her, she turns around and makes a beeline… away from the bathroom.
“Alice!” I call, aghast. “We need to go to the potty! All the kids do.” I follow after her, hiding a smile, and am about tap her shoulder, when she senses my hand. She squirms away, ducks her head and waves both hands at me, as though she were shooing away a dog. I can tell that I am being quite a nuisance.
“Alright, Alice,” I pick her up and start heading to the bathroom, “Let’s go”. She kicks her legs in wordless defiance, and I can’t help but laugh at her indignant attitude. She takes her seat on the potty and fixes me with a look.
“Ok, I’m going to change your diaper now,” I tell her. She reaches for a Pull-Up adorned with Dora the Explorer and thrusts it at me as if to say, This one. You owe me.
After the diaper change, she washes her hands and dries them off briskly. Then, dropping her towel into the laundry hamper primly, she marches out of the bathroom with purpose. When did Alice become so confident? I wonder to myself. It seems like only yesterday that she was hiding behind her mother’s knee each time she came through that gate.
I love this Alice – sassy, determined Alice, with her own big ideas. Alice, who fixes me with her exacting gaze. She makes me smile.
