(NOTE: I find myself telling this story often these days so I thought I should post it here for general consumption)
My mind was drifting in the din of Holiday shoppers when I felt the tug at the front of my jacket. Liam's urgent whisper brought me back to the crowded express line at our local grocery store;
"Mom, Zoe's talking to a stranger." His tone implying that although he was concerned for her safety, he was also hoping this time he would be the instrument of her really getting in trouble.
Where Liam was squashed in front of me, the accused delinquint was similarly squashed behind me so I had merely to turn my head and look down to witness the transgression. And there she was, head tilted slightly, looking up at the dreaded Stranger; a diminutive elderly lady with short tightly curled pewter locks, not much taller than Zoe herself - they were singing Jingle Bells to each other. I chuckled softly to myself and mussed liam's hair; "Thankyou for telling me Liam, but I think in this case it's ok."
As they completed their duet and realized that they had an audience, the Stranger immediately noticed Liam's recently acquired gap-toothed grin and turned her attention to him. Beaming, he proudly displayed the empty space and neighbouring loose tooth. Not to be upstaged by her brother's sudden garnering of the spotlight Zoe launched into a display of overeager enthusiasm for her elder brothers suddenly fascinating dental display:
"Oooh Liam, can I see?"
"Ooh, wow!
All the while standing on tip-toe and poking her little fingers into Liam's mouth, prodding here and there as though teeth were the most amazing thing she could imagine. Never mind that she couldn't care less about the state of Liam's mouth in any other given situation.
The amused stranger turned to me stating in a conspiratorial whisper, "She's going to be a dentist."
To which I replied with a knowing smirk, "No, She's going to be an actress."
(ASIDE: Zoe sings almost constantly and it seems that this time she found a willing duet partner. Later on outside the grocery store, where her enthusiastic carolling travelled more than a mere few inches, she managed to trigger at least two passersby into subconsciously joining her.)
