*Psssssst!* A secret surprise

It took the toddler all of a minute and a half to spill the beans.

We went birthday shopping for daddy yesterday; the toddler and the baby (who toddles now, herself, and has for a while, so maybe I ought to just start calling her #2) helped me pick out three lovely neckties for DH, who has mentioned that he needs some more. I stressed to the toddler the importance of keeping the ties a secret because they're his present, and he can't know what they are until he opens them on Friday.

Honestly, I didn't think she'd have a problem. She knows all the rules of birthdays: Presents are a secret, and you get lots of them; you have to go to Chuck E. Cheese's; when the cake comes, you must light the candles on fire and blow them out; you get to have as many balloons as you are old (so by her rules, we'll have 35 balloons in the house on Friday!).

As I got the girls out of the car, the toddler reminded me: "Shhhhh, Mommy! Daddy's ties are a secret!" Exactly, I said, confident that my verbal little child could keep it to herself.

She ran over to Daddy, sitting on the couch, and gave him a hug. "Daddy," she said, "your present is a secret for your birthday!"

I went back to the garage to bring in some of the groceries we'd bought as well, so I missed the conversation in the middle, but as I came back in with bags on my arm I heard her say with excitement and pride in her voice:

"Daddy, we got you ties!"


~RCH~