The inside tody

Have you ever had a toddler bring you a story book and listen with rapt attention, eyes wide open, as you flip through the pages and read the exciting story to her?

No?

Me neither. :/

This is how our typical story-telling sessions go these days.

Xena (hands me a book) - "Witch... Tody!"

The book is actually called 'The Flower Princess' but she prefers to call it "Witch Tody".

Me (pointing to the witch on the page) - "So there was once a witch..."

Xena - "TOPI!!!"

Me - "That's right, the witch was wearing a topi, a hat."

Xena (pointing to the witch's fingernails) - "BADE BADE!"

Me - "Yes, she had bade bade pointy fingernails... Let's continue... So the witch saw a princess..."

Xena - "PITTY PITTY!"

Me - "Yes, the princess was very pretty. So the witch saw her..."

Xena - "BLUE!"

Me - "Correct. The princess was wearing a blue dress..."

Xena - "WALK!"

Me - "Yes, she was taking a walk in the woods. The witch saw her and...

Xena - "FALOUTH!"

Me - "Flower! Yes, the witch turned her into a flower."

Xena - "BLUE!"

Me - "A blue flower... Yes. Later, the prince came to look for his princess..."

Xena - "NEIGH!!!! NEIGH!!!!"

Me - "Yes, he came riding on a horse."

Xena - "Abhijeet??" (She says "Abhijeet" for 'elephant', 'octopus' and 'Angry birds'. Don't ask.)

Me - "No, no elephant. Just a horse ok? The prince was very sad because he could not find his princess..."

Xena (pointing to the prince's eyes) - "EYES!"

Me - "Erm, yes, the prince has eyes. So he asked the witch where his princess was. She told him the princess was a flower. Every night, she would turn into a princess, but she would stay with the witch. If he could pick the right flower, he could take her home and she would turn into a princess again."

Xena - "CHIRP CHIRP!"

Me - "Huh?? Chirp chirp? Where??"

Xena (flips to the front cover and shows me the publisher's logo, which is a robin) - "CHIRP CHIRP!"

Me - "Oh yes, that's a bird. Instead of 'chirp chirp', can you say 'bird'? BIRD?"

Xena - "Abhijeet??"

Me - "Erm... No baby, that's not an angry bird. That's a regular, non-angry bird. Let's get back to the story. The prince did not know which flower his princess was. One day, he met a kind fairy..."

Xena - "AUNTY!"

Me - "Ok, yes, fairy aunty. He met a kind fairy aunty. She..."

Xena - "PINK!"

Me - "Yes, she was wearing a pink dress. She gave the prince an idea. The next day he went back to the woods and looked at the flowers. He picked one and brought it home. At night the flower turned into the princess!"

Xena (excitedly pointing at the princess' hair) - "KIP! KIP!"

Me - "Yes, her hairclip is blue. She asked the prince how he found her among all the flowers..."

Xena - "Nemo??"

Me - "Huh?? Nemo?! Nemo is not in this story, baby."

Xena (wanders off to find her Nemo stuffed toy) - "Nemo!"

Me (closing the book) - "Uh... ok. End of tody."

[For those who are curious about the story, the fairy told the prince to look for a flower without any dew on it. Because the princess was not a flower at night, she would not have any dew on her. And oh, when explaining this to the princess, the dhakkan prince conveniently omitted the part about fairy aunty and took all the credit himself. Hmmmph!]