The lion, the prince, and the Troy-boy

"Eat me! Eat me!" he shrieked in delight. "Are you sure?" I asked. "YES!" he screamed as a smile lit up his face. "Here we go again," I thought as I snatched Troy, tossed him into the air, bounced up and down, and tickled him as he giggled in delight. To Troy, my two and a half year old nephew, "roughhousing" and "being eaten" are synonymous. "Ah, the joys of being an auntie," I mused.

Later that day, I took advantage of my Christmas break by cuddling up on the couch with lemon-honey tea, a fleece blanket, and a good book. As a single, young adult, I'm frequently given books about how to have godly relationships. Today's read was, "The Laws of Dating." Rule number six adamantly states, "Don't date someone that needs to be rescued..." "So much for the damsel in distress awaiting prince charming," I laughed to myself. My musings were cut short by the whimpering of my eight month old niece, Savannah, who had been playing contently by my feet. I gently scooped her up and began to amuse her by reading in a goofy voice while making silly faces. All the while my sister snapped pictures and my nephew watched on...

"Read please!" Troy asked, while dropping the dating book into my lap. A few days had passed since I had entertained his sister with this "delightful" book and now he wanted in on the fun also. "Oh mercy!" I thought. "How do I make this book kid friendly?" I quickly racked my brain trying to remember all the children stories I had ever heard."Once upon a time," I finally began,"there lived a beautiful and caring young woman..." The story continued to unfold to my nephew as he listened attentively with eyes open wide - a surprising feat for a toddler. "She worked so hard and no one thanked her for her efforts. Her only joy was in her daily horseback rides on Shasta, her large, cream-colored mare. She..uhh..." I stuttered as I created the story as I went - finally settling upon her near demise by a fierce lion and a prince's daring rescue. Not one for violence, I quickly informed Troy that the naughty little lion was scolded by the prince for scaring the poor young woman. He was sent home with his tail between his legs. At this, Troy became noticeably upset. He loudly interrupted my story. "No! NO!" he shrieked to the imaginary lion. "Eat ME! Eat me! Please?"

Someday, I need to remind Troy of the true meaning of "eat." But not today. Today I am just going to smile to myself and enjoy the sweet innocence of youth.