1 Mother 2 Another

“Mommy, Gamma, come see a special
show we’ve got going on! And you have to come sit on the
floor in the hallway to watch it!” Maddie and Cora called
downstairs Friday afternoon.


My mom and I came into the hall, mystified. Of the hundreds
(literally) of shows we’ve seen in my house, none have taken
place in the hallway. But there on the floor were two floor
cushions, so we obediently sat down and sat back.

Cora appeared at the balcony on the second
floor, dressed in the Raggedy Ann costume – white top, red
pinafore, with blue accents. “And now! Presenting! Cora and
Maddie’s fireworks!”


Fireworks? Did she say fireworks?


From around the corner, Maddie came out dressed in the Red Riding
Hood costume (yes, we really have all these costumes –
that’s a blog for another day) resplendent in red and white.
Ah, patriotic colors – I was finally getting it. Maddie
picked up to two-by-fours made out of Styrofoam – used as
lots of things during our play time – and assumed a ready
position.


“It begins!” Cora said grandly, and threw a metallic
Christmas bow over the railing.


SMACK! Maddie hit the Styrofoam together in a startlingly realistic
“firework explosion” sound as the bow floated to the
ground.


“Oooh!” my mom and I said obediently, and applauded.


The fireworks show continued for several minutes, one bow at a
time. The girls had such a great time that we enjoyed the show of
their smiling faces and screams of delight. Maddie finally
couldn’t stand that Cora was upstairs throwing all the bows,
and Maddie ran up to join her sister. I took over for the sound
effects, and the show ended with the grand finale – a double
whammy of two bows at once, followed by the mack Daddy of big bows.


We applauded wildly and the girls took enthusiastic bows, smiling
happily.


Why can’t every afternoon be like that?