8½ by 11” paper continues to be the reigning currency of
the Sharabidze household this September. The importance of paper!!! (purtseli) cannot be over stressed. It's fair to say that after Simba, nothing makes Keti happier than paper.
This morning Keti ran screaming out of the kitchen furious at even the
thought of Tako touching HER drawing paper, which left Teona and I in
fits of giggles over our morning coffee. Because when Keti gets mad, Keti gets
MAD. The wonderful, indignant four-year-old kind of M-A-D in which you
have been irrevocably wronged by the heartless trolls that you must share your life with and the only way to demonstrate it is to
stomp out of the room as loudly as you can. With all 20 pounds of yourself.
I bought paper supposedly for teaching
purposes, and always, always, Keti comes up to my room asking for some. This invariably ends in bartering.
Keti: “Two pieces. A
red one and a light blue one and a white one.”
Me: “One piece. What
color do you want?”
Keti: “Light blue.
And a red one.”
Me: “Here is your light blue.”
Keti: “And a white one.”
Me: “Fine.”
It’s
not that I mind giving her paper at all.
But if I gave it all to her, she and Tako would take the scissors to it
all and, well, you see my point. Teona
tries to stop her from begging for paper all the time. I’ve told her it’s fine, paper is cheap and I
love to see Keti draw, but Keti knows she’s not supposed to come around my room
all the time asking for my stuff. So now
she comes and makes small talk.
Me: “Hi, Keti, what’s up?”
Keti: “Hiiiiiiiiiiiii ……………
is this your book?”
Me: “Yes, do you want to read?”
Keti: “Noooooo …… where’s the kitten?”
Me: “Outside. What do
you want, Keti?”
Keti: “I don’t knooow ……………. What’s this?”
Me: “My medicine. Do
you want paper?”
Keti: “Yes. Two
pieces. A red one and a green one and a
white one.”
