worm: the saga continues or, a tina by any other name would be a bruce

A quick update:
Noni returned from school today with something pink dangling from between her very dirty fingers. Pink, but not a pink found in nature. More of a neon scarlet color. You can understand my 'mom concern.'

"Noni. What d'ya got there?"

"A worm."

"Huh. Another worm?"

"Yep. Tina's dead, remember?"

"Oh, I remember. We've been putting fresh flowers on her grave for a couple of days now."

"Yep."

"So ... who's ... that?"


See, I am pretty certain by this point that this is not a worm, but rather a hair binder. I am treading lightly, however, due to the grief we shared at the loss of Tina.


"Oh, this is Bruce. He's really nice. And he's kind of stretchy."


She demonstrates.


"Really... huh. Bruce is the name of this worm?"

"Yep."

"Where did you get this - worm?"

"Oh, mom. It was so amazing. I was thinking about my best-worm-friend, Tina, all day long. I thought about her while I was working on the beads at school. I thought about her at lunch while I ate my peter-honey sandwich. I was still thinking about her when I got off the bus, and what do you know? I looked down - like I always do so I don't fall down the bus steps - and there was Bruce, just curled up in the gutter waiting for me! Of course, I scooped him up and kissed him and promised to love him forever."


At this point, I don't know if she's pulling my leg or what. I do know that I am concerned with the rate that she falls in love with any cute thing lying in the gutter. This behavior does not bode well for her dating future.


"Noni. What did Bruce promise you?"


I'm trying to play along - appear to be interested, not freaked out that my daughter thinks that a hair binder is a worm.


"Mom."


Note the rolling of the eyes followed by the tisk and huffy.


"Bruce is not a real worm. Duh. He doesn't actually talk to me like Tina did. You are such a mom."


Long silence from both of us.

Noni is busily stretching Bruce and I am trying to decide whether I should laugh myself silly or curl up in the fetal position and sob uncontrollably.


"Can I go outside and teach Bruce how to ride the skate board?"