Asking for what you want

Last night, Elena found a basket of fabrics at my house and asked, "What are these?"

"Fabrics," I said.  She loved the word, fabrics--just as earlier she had loved the word, success.  At three, she is acquisitive as all three-year-olds are, for words and new things.

"What do you make of them?" she asked.

I told her that someday I planned to make a patchwork quilt.

"We could make me a raccoon costume!" she said. "Or a skirt with all different colors of ruffles."

"Can I take these home?" she asked.

"You can pick out your five favorite ones and take them," I said--and then watched as she carefully folded them and put them in a bag like treasures.

"Can I have that doll with the apple on her head?" she asked as she was getting in the car seat, clutching the little tea pot she'd already wished for and received.

Lesson learned: Ask for what you want and you will probably receive.