Written by Rowonna McNeely – A couple of weeks ago, we made a new addition to our family. No, I am not referring to Reis either. Our newest addition is tiny and pink with big sparkling eyes. She is very quiet, never making a peep. Her name is Lilly.
Lilly has her own space; a small shoebox that is set up just for her. Considering she is roughly only 2 inches, she has plenty of room. She has a tiny bed with an even tinier blanket that covers her at bedtime. The rest of her furniture is drawn on the inside of the box. Lilly does have her own broom that used to be a makeup brush.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, Lilly is not technically alive. She is actually a pink eraser.
I’m not sure what triggered her arrival. One day, Kiera mentioned that she had brought home a pink eraser. The next day, she used a pair of pink and white sparkly earrings to create eyes, found a small doll skirt to put on the eraser and Lilly was born.
She sleeps a lot. Which I’m assuming is common for erasers… I honestly don’t know.
Lilly is content to watch the same television shows that we do. She’s actually the perfect resident. She doesn’t ask to be fed, she doesn’t actually ask for anything.
A few days ago, we did have a little excitement with Lilly. I was cooking dinner when Kiera walked in the kitchen. “Guess what?” She exclaimed.
“What?” I responded, smiling at her obvious excitement.
“Look!” She said, holding out her hand.
I stared at her hand before moving in closer to examine the teeny-tiny… super teeny-tiny piece of eraser that Kiera held in her hand. “Wow…” I replied, trying to disguise the uncertain tone in my voice.
“Lilly lost a tooth!” Kiera squealed.
Ahhh… now I knew what I was looking at.
“Well, that’s exciting! I bet she is excited.” I remarked to my beaming child.
“I told her we could put it under her pillow and see if the Tooth Fairy comes.” Kiera explained as she lifted Lilly out of her bed and placed the tiny ‘tooth’ under the pillow.
“Oh…” That was all I could muster. No one told me that as a parent I would have to have the Tooth Fairy come visit an eraser. There is no class that prepares you for this.
“I’m going to leave the top of her box off just a little so the Tooth Fairy doesn’t have trouble getting in her house.” She explained.
And yes, before you ask, the Tooth Fairy did make an appearance for Lilly’s tooth. She left a whole penny under Lilly’s pillow. Kiera was ecstatic.
But, my absolute favorite Lilly story happened a couple of nights ago. It was bedtime and it was my night to put Kiera to bed.
“May we watch a How-It’s-Made video?” Kiera asked.
“Sure.” I replied, tapping the YouTube app on my phone. “What would you like to see being made?”
Kiera sat up in bed, glancing around the room surreptitiously.
“Whew.” She said in relief. “I don’t think she is in here.”
I furrowed my brows in confusion, wondering what I was missing.
She leaned closer to me, before whispering, “Can we watch how erasers are made?”
Thankful that the lack of light hid the amusement that had to be evident on my face, I quietly responded. “Absolutely.”
With one last glance around the room, Kiera lay back on her bed. “I had to make sure Lilly wasn’t in here before I asked.”
Never a dull moment, people. Never a dull moment.
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Rowonna McNeely
Graphic Designer - Mommy to Kiera
Rowonna McNeely works with her husband, Aaron, at Willie’s T’s in the Art Department, regularly volunteers in the community, and has her hands full with her daughter, Kiera, along with two dogs and one cat.
Rowonna is a graduate of May High School (Go Tigers!) and grew up on a dairy farm. She enjoys reading, creating, swimming, and planning events. She’s also a bit of a klutz.
