Hiro and Jewel

This morning Loreli and Daniel were unloading the dishwasher. I was near but only glancing at them once in awhile. I heard Daniel say, "Loreli! Be careful! You hurt me!"

I looked over and Loreli was frozen in place, fear in her eyes. She had several small bowls in her left hand and a large sharp knife in her right. The two of them had turned at the same moment and run into each other. The knife had poked Daniel in the stomach. Under his shirt he had a tiny white mark, it hadn't even scratched his skin luckily.

"Oh my gosh you guys! Be careful! This kitchen is so tiny. Even Daddy and I have almost poked each other with knives. Loreli, I know it was an accident. It's okay. Put the knife and bowls down and come over here. It's okay, really."

Loreli came over with the "trauma look" plastered on her face. Big vacant eyes, blank face.

"Really. It's okay. It was an accident. Daniel knows it was an accident. I know it was an accident. How about you guys just leave any knife with a black handle in the dishwasher and Daddy or I will put them away. I'll let Daddy know too."

Loreli continued to sit on my lap in another place in her head.

I said quietly, "What is Hiro saying to you right now?"

She finally looked at me. "I don't know."

"Take a minute and see if you hear her."

A few minutes went by and I could see she knew but didn't want to say it. She said, "Jewel says it was an accident and it's not my fault."

"Jewel is right! What is Hiro saying to you?"

In a tiny voice Loreli said, "That it's ALL my fault."

"Ugh. That doesn't feel good does it? Well I know it was an accident and Jewel knows it was an accident. You know, Daddy has a funny saying. He says, 'Go pound salt.' It means 'bug off'. I think we should tell Hiro to go pound salt."

She giggled about that and we talked about more sayings like that and decided we would write them down to tell Hiro when she got out of hand:

Take a long walk off a short pier.

Go jump in the lake.

Go fly a kit.

Hit the road.

Take a hike.

Make like a ghost and disappear.