It’s not the best quality and I lost the original voicemail now. But I listened to this about 5 times at work and went ‘awww’ every time.
Transcript:
Um… I woke up 13 hours… I slept for 13 hours. And yesterday I was making this little sled for Whitey*. And that was fun. Aaand Whitey’s sled, I’m doing a little seatbelt to it. So it’s all safe. And… I love you mummy. Bye.
* Whitey is the newest addition to her ever-growing collection of toy animals.
I caught this gem yesterday during an uneventful car ride when Ella was having a conversation with some imaginary friends in Alaska and Greenland:
Ella – I’m going to go on Facebook. Oh no, a thief has been. And he has stolen my log off button!
Me – I forgot to bring the gnome you painted.
Ella [joking] – Bad mum! Bad mum!
Me – Oh, I’m not such a bad mum, am I?
Ella – You’re a great mum! Because you gave me pancakes and icecream and you give me everything I want!
Me [laughing] – I don’t give you everything you want! That would make me a bad mum.
.
We were watching a documentary about life in the ocean.
David Attenborough – For a billion years the ocean was the only place on earth where life existed.
Ella – The ocean was the only planet where life existed for a billion years?!
… Watching the images of typical ocean life. …
Ella – Were there shops there?
Me – Where?
Ella – There, in the ocean.
Me – No, there’s no shops there. Why?
Ella – Oh no! That means they can’t buy anything to wear. Or to protect theirselves against sharks!
Me – Who?
Ella – The people who lived in the ocean back then.
.
Ella – Mum, were you alive when the dinosaurs were alive?
Me – This is a big lunch. I don’t think I’ll need dinner tonight.
Ella – You do. Because if you don’t eat dinner, you might die!
Me [laughing] – No, I don’t think I’ll die from skipping dinner once.
Ella – Don’t laugh at me. I’m only a kid! If a grown-up would say that, it’s ok to laugh. But I’m only a kid and I don’t know everything.
When your mum has just discovered that the paint stains – that you carelessly made on the 5-day old lino in the new rental kitchen, because you did “not hear” her advice about putting some paper under your painting – won’t come off with water and soap, “Whose fault is it?” is most definitely the wrong question to ask. “Will I ever get pocket money again?” or even “Will I live to see my 6th birthday?” are probably more apt questions in this situation. Though the wisest option would probably be to stay well clear of your frantically panicking next of kin until her blood pressure has come down considerably.
I wonder if the smell of tea-tree oil – which turned out to be the miracle cleaning aid that saved mum’s sanity – will forever make this memory surface for her now?
Ella just tells me about this game she plays with “the boys” at school. She sits somewhere up high and pretends she’s having a picnic. And all the boys are dogs. And she is their owner. And they’re really bad dogs. And they end up knocking over the whole picnic. And then she has to train them. Then she went on to demonstrate how she says “Sit!” and then sits to show them. And then she says “Come!” and runs away and they all run after her.
What a great image!
And better than the stories she tells me about her so-called best female friends who seem to spend most of their time fighting with and excluding eachother.
We were talking about helping others (triggered by some pretty selfish behaviour displayed by Ella, but anyway).
Ella – And it’s good to share money too. People should share money.
Me – That’s right. And we do that too. We give money to our sponsor child in Africa because we have more money than they do and without help they might not be able to eat or go to school.
Ella – And the people in India, they are poor. And people should give them money too.
Me – Remember, when you’re 11 or 12, I’m going to take you to India?
Ella – Oh no! I don’t want to have no money! Will they take our money from us when we go there?
Me [laughing] – No, but everyone will want us to give them money and buy stuff from them.
I’m now going to make an effort to remember to give her pocket money, just so she can give some of it to charities.
Ella stories 