The girl in the mirror

Naomi fed each of three bunny
statues a carrot when we left.

Did you know, there's actually a fourth child at our house? Her name is Emily, and she lives in the mirror. Usually the full-length one in the master bathroom, and she likes to make her appearances when Naomi comes to visit me as I'm hanging up laundry or brushing my teeth.

Emily is about Naomi's age and size, and she and Naomi always seem to be wearing the same outfit. Maybe they call each other? She lives in a house just like ours--in fact, she once gave Naomi a tour. Emily's mother, who also sometimes appears in the mirror, bears a striking resemblance to me. Her name is Katie. Emily and Naomi like to chat with each other, but mostly they like to run races. Naomi will back up to the very back of the (abnormally large) bathroom, count to three, and take off at top speed! As she passes the mirror, she'll notice that Emily is running right beside her. The race ends at the bed. Sometimes the girls only run a couple races, and other times Naomi brings in prizes (stuffed animals), and each race one or the other girl manages to edge out the other for a microscopically narrow win. Fortunately, Emily always seems delighted with whichever prize Naomi doesn't have her eye on. These two get along perfectly. ("Mommy, I hope Emily doesn't decide she wants to big dog as a prize, because that's the one that I want.")

Naomi asked for saber-toothed
cat facepaint because we're
learning about prehistoric
animals and she's a bit
fascinated. Also note that
this is one of very few dresses
she'll wear nowadays!

Of course, when Emily is off doing other things, just as Naomi sometimes is, there's always Holly, Naomi's large stuffed dog, to play with. In the past, Holly's been designated the mother of all the puppies, but lately she's been elevated to near-sister status. Holly wears all the dresses that Naomi has recently decided are uncomfortable (which is a lot--breaking news from one month ago). She often gets changed for bedtime, and usually has her teeth brushed, with Naomi's cast-off toothbrush, when Naomi does. She wears the purple headband, and Naomi wears the pink one, so it's a nice arrangement. Holly is also a lovely, easygoing playmate for Naomi, with none of the inconveniences that come along with in-the-flesh big sisters.

"One time, when Holly and I played Rat-a-Tat Cat, I got all zeros!" (Zeros are good--one would almost have to cheat to get all zeros. Not that that would ever happen, of course.) Holly's such a good sport, but I suppose most yellow labs are.

And when Holly needs a nap, of course, the Calico Critters house is nearly always bustling with activity. I get to see a reflection of just how 1950s our family is sometimes, as the moms of the little animal families generally do all the cooking, cleaning and nagging; the dads are often off doing something of their own; the boys cause trouble; and the girls, the true heroes, take care of the babies/toddlers, get all the best beds, and generally have lots of fun.

Naomi saved and saved and
saved and saved and saved
to buy this mechanical bunny.

Calico Critters are Naomi's absolute favorite pretend play nowadays, and she can get wrapped up for hours minutes [who am I kidding?] in elaborate stories. They've taken over half our piano room, mostly because Naomi is capable of imagining terrifying monsters or eerie emptiness in addition to sugar-sweet friendships, and utterly refuses to inhabit any level of the house another living human isn't also present on. And Emily doesn't count. She'll occasionally consent to running upstairs for something as long as someone waits for her at the bottom, which I do because I feel like it's a step in the right direction. And has been for eight months now. Still waiting for that next step...

Nothing, however, beats playing Calico Critters along with another human, whether an actual playmate from the neighborhood, or a particularly benevolent sister, me, or, best of all, Daddy. When Daddy plays, the daddy animals all do silly things, like make pancakes and accidentally flip them all around the kitchen. They're hopeless, and so is Naomi as she gasps for breath through her laughter. I can occasionally reach this level if I haven't already imagined a dozen things that day (like people getting their math done in a timely manner, or vegetables getting eaten, or rooms getting picked without me even mentioning the need). The moms, for instance, occasionally try to sneak past the kids to go get ice cream on their own (they're always caught!), and sometimes Mary Poppins shows up, courtesy of Kalina.

We tie-dyed this summer!

The Calico Critters visited cousins (the other half of the Calico Critters) shortly after we did. They also sometimes have to empty their house because the boys sprinkled "sleeping powder" all over it. They go out fishing, go to the pool, celebrate Christmas, chase the babies, play hide-and-seek, climb on the roof, fix broken things, go exploring, frequently change clothes, play music and have all kinds of adventures.

Then there's the little-sister doll, and all the bunnies, puppies, buffaloes, penguins, seals, etc. Still Naomi's frequent companions, they're not quite on the same level as Naomi herself and have recently become more charges than companions. They still come out all the time, whether for birthday parties or board games or just a ride in the car.

And sometimes she says, "Hey Mom, let's pretend that I'm a girl, and you're my mom [biiiig stretch, there] and you're busy so I have to take care of my little sister, and we go out in the woods to visit the magic unicorn, but we have to camp overnight. And then I'll call you on the phone to let you know I'm okay." This one is fun, because she gets everything ready, and she and her doll, or stuffie, or whatever, troop through the house until they reach the magic unicorn. And then they call me. And head home.

This baby Cooper's hawk
was raised in our backyard!

But other times we have, "Mom, I'm a girl, and my bunny is hurt, but you have to pretend you don't know, and then I'll help it, but you have to try to stop me because you don't understand, but then I do anyway, and I get in trouble, but later you understand, so then you let me help, and then we go out for ice cream. Okay?" Did you get all that? While you're trying to follow a recipe at the end of a busy day? These I fail miserably, to everyone's frustration. Eventually, she'll be able to hand me a script, and I think that'll take a load off of both of us.

Overall, I'm glad to see that Naomi's amazing imagination isn't going away anytime soon. I think I'd miss Emily's company almost as much as Naomi's pretending.