Being the Lady

Yesterday Turtle put two of her dolls in her grocery cart and said, "I have twins, Mommy!" I looked over and smiled. Then she said, "Be the lady, Mommy." I knew exactly what she meant without further explanation. I walked up to her cart and in a high pitched voice said, "Oh, are they twins??" "Yes," she said, smiling proudly. "Well," I continued in my high-pitched lady voice, "they sure are beautiful. You're so lucky!" She nodded and pushed her cart away.

While it's cute and brilliant that Turtle has turned my frequent interaction with female shoppers into the "Be the Lady" game, what I can't get over is how I knew instantantly what she meant when she asked me to be the lady, even though it was the very first time she'd ever asked it of me. I didn't think, I didn't ask her to repeat herself, I didn't wonder if she meant the cashier. I just went directly into the role play. It was like we had a moment of recognition, when two minds were equal in the shared knowledge of our mutual experience. It was like communicating with someone with whom you have such a deep history that barely a word has to be spoken in order for you to both know everything that is in the other person's mind. It was a glimpse into the inside jokes, the secrets, and the drama that will one day be part of my relationship with this child, and it was amazing.