Elliot has really taken to a mouse stuffed animal. Maybe it’s because we buried a dead mouse today. He’s been carrying it around, talking to it, playing with it. The last time he had this much interest in a stuffed animal was the masosaur from the Jurassic World exhibit a few months ago.
At the block party today, he was playing with the neighborhood children. After a time, he asked me to get “Mousey”. I went inside, and he followed right behind me.
While retrieving it, I was a little sad for him because I knew the other children would not care about his Mousey. But he has to discover the world on his own. I did not say anything.
Sure enough, the children had no interest. Luca tried to get his puppy dog to eat it, that’s about it. Then they all continued playing hide and seek, with Elliot carrying Mousey around.
When we came inside for the evening, Elliot hugged me and said, “No one cares about Mousey.”
“I know, Elliot. I saw. I’m sorry. It’s your special toy. Sometimes friends aren’t excited about the same things we’re excited about. That’s ok. You stay excited about Mousey anyway. It’s your special toy.”
