Day Seventeen- Abu the Great

   Abu is a character of the funny and cute sort. That kid spreads joy where ever she goes. I remember one time we had gone to her regular dentist for a cleaning and it was right after a friend of his had died and Abu, who was seven at the time, took one look at his long sad face and must have decided to spend the next half an hour trying to cheer him up. She was goofy until she worked a small smile from him and then she was really goofy until he actually laughed. Around the dental equipment she would keep grinning at him until he had to respond because her joy was contagious.
   I'm not sure if she knew why she felt the need to cheer him up but it worked. And she wasn't afraid to either. How many times have been around people lost in grief and didn't say anything because we were afraid of saying the wrong thing?  She was just herself.
   And I have to say I feel blessed to be the Mom of a kid that possesses such a beautiful heart.

   She also has a quirky sense of humor that I would like to share.

When Abu was five, she raided the bathroom for some lotion. I had given her permission to use some. I should have known better. :) 

           Abu comes out, telling me she used all the wonderful colors of the lotions she could find. It had blended together into quite a strong smell but she was excited about something so I hid my grimace. 

            “Smell me, Mommy.” She offers, holding up her leg.

            I smelled it appreciatively and told her that her leg smelled nice.

            “I smell like a rainbow.” She says.

            “Why?” I ask.

            “Because I put all the different lotions on my leg. So they would smell like a rainbow.” She grins.

    One time Abu was eating a bit of Cool Whip, when she comes into the bedroom, white, fluffy Cool Whip was over her face and the biggest grin from ear to ear. And she throws out her arms and proclaims,               
      “Powered by Cool Whip. I am Powered by Cool Whip.” 
    
     (I have seen the power of a kid hyped on Cool Whip. It's too bad they can't bottle the energy of an over sugared kid. It would be cheap, clean and efficient energy.)

   We have a wonderful art cupboard for the girls. I knew Abu thought it was great because her pencils, paints, stickers and paper were in there but I didn't know just how wondrous it was until one day Aunt Stacey and her are searching for a pencil. Abu stands in front of it, grandly gestures towards it and tells Aunt Stacey. 

    “This is where the magic is.”  

   We were getting ready to play math games when Abu says, “I have a little idea.”

            “A little idea?” I asked with a slight chuckle, because my girls never have little ideas. 

           She shakes her head,  “Pretty much a big idea.”

      Ah-ha, now that sounds like the Abu I know. 




   I'm grateful for people like Abu, who pretty much always have big ideas, they believe in the magic of imagination and they're powered by Cool Whip. :)
   Us adults, we're fueled by coffee. And sometimes lots of it. Cool Whip sounds much tastier.