Then Santa is real at Meijer!!!

Today, in a mischievous mood, I teased the boys that I was going to start calling them by some new nicknames: I would call Barrett Sassafras and William would be Ocracoke. "No!" they squealed, and I teased them for another couple of minutes. Barrett took it lightheartedly, smiling and crowing, no! William, who is extremely literal (for example, earlier today, after Neva and I took a "ride" on his and Barrett's "train" for about 10 minutes, where we bumped over bridges and whooshed through imaginary tunnels and leapt over giant gaps in the track, I said, "Thank you for the ride, Mr. Engineer," to which he replied, "Mom, I'm not really an engineer, you know... I'm just pretending") did not at all like the possibility of being called Ocracoke for even two minutes longer. In a sudden burst of frustrated, adorable four-year-old rage, he raised both his fists into the air, high above his head, and shook them at the heavens, yelling, "Mom, if you're going to keep saying mean things, then…(threatening) then Santa is real at Meijer!" I burst into rollicking laughter so hilarious that he couldn't keep his scowl on his face. Before I knew it, the three of us were laughing together uproariously. 

So word to the wise, if you are considering introducing a new nickname for William, proceed at your own risk.