{ Learning Her Numbers: Sesame Street Style! }
{ On my way..... }
"Sunneeee daaays, sweeping the.... CLOUDS AWAAAY! " The chipper voice rang through the house, disturbing what had been a rather calm and quiet morning. The singer in question seemed to have an internal clock set to the television schedule; she always woke up just in time to catch the early-morning children's programming, much to the chagrin of the rest of the household. The purple haired teen bounded out of her room, still in her pink pinstriped jammies as she headed down the hall.
"On my way, to where the AIIIR IS SWEEEET!"
In her room, Cantarella could hear the dreaded song of doom drawing closer to her room. She had to find a way to escape! Crawling out of her bed, her blank-looking eyes glanced around, looking for an way out or at least a place to hide. Last week it had been "Caillou", and the week before that had been the horror known as "The Wiggles". The little girl eyed the place between her dresser and the wall. While it was dark and cramped, it'd be better than this morning's planned torture. The girl scrambled over, but was scooped up by tan hands before she could hide herself properly.
"What are you doing back there, silly?" Jaella asked, giggling as she hugged her little girl. "C'mon, we're going to miss Sesame Street!" The teen didn't notice her daughter's grimace; she just smiled and rushed to the living room, plopping her daughter down on a pillow in front of a bowl of cereal before flopping down of the floor herself, singing the last few lines of the ending song before digging into her bowl of Lucky Charms, watching attentively.
Cantarella stared at the bowl of sugary cereal before giving a disgusted sniff, shoving the bowl away from her her. How could Mother expect her to eat this sugar-coated filth? Where was the protein? Hell, where was the meat? She huffed, crossing her arms, and was about to storm off when something about the show caught her eyes. Something she hadn't seen before. Symbols called numbers? Counting? Though her face remained blank, the little girl watched, taking note of this odd counting concept. So, amounts of things could be counted? She glanced over at her mother, who's baby-blue eyes were glued to the screen. Surely her mother already knew this....right? Then again, the purple haired teen had already proven herself less than adept when it came to mental prowess.
{= stressed =}
The number of the day had been four, which had given Jaella a great idea. "Let's play Connect Four!" she suggested with an enthusiastic clap of her hands. "We can practice counting and it'll be fun! C'mon, Canti-Can, let's go!" The smiling teen ignored her daughter's annoyed hiss; a game was just what her little Canti needed to cheer up! She was sure of it! Scooping her daughter up into a hug, the girl made her way back to her room to get the game out.
Cantarella was glad to be out of her mother's grip. Ugh, how she hated physical contact. She frowned at her mother's back as the woman rifled through a pile of board games. And that's when she hatched the idea, her grumbling stomach aiding her in the decision. She couldn't have been expected to eat that grain mush called cereal, could she? "I win, I get sausage?" she suggested, crossing her arms.
"Sure!" Jaella chirped, setting up the game. "And if I win, I'll take you to the field with me so we can pick wildflowers together!" The girl giggled, then motioned the little girl over. "First to get four in a row wins. We put the plastic coin doohickies in one at a time, and when someone wins, you count em!" She wasn't sure those were the official rules, but they sounded fun.
So, the game commenced. The mother-daughter-duo took turn about, placing their chips carefully on the board. It wasn't long, however, until Cantarella looked up at her mother, face blank as a new sheet of paper. "I win." the small child announced. She was proud of herself; she'd caught onto the concept of counting fairly quickly. It wasn't that hard; she simply had to memorize the sequence of the numbers.
"Gotta count em, Canti-Can." Jae sang out, grinning. She was so proud of her little girl! Her Canti was such a smart little Canti! The girl held her feet together, rocking as she listened to her little one start to count.
"Four in a row." the toddle said, her voice a low hiss. "And 21 in all. Sausage. Now." As if on cue, the child's stomach voiced its opinion loudly, demanding meaty sustenance. The girl smiled a little on the inside as her mother scampered off obediently to make her food. She looked at the game, the corner of of her mouth twitching a bit, but not quite forming a smile as she made her way back to her own room, her gait expressing her pride and victory since her face would not.
{ Everything's A-Okay.... }
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