That Smell.

In the past week, Miss C has made a few requests:

Tuesday: "For Christmas, I want Jesus, the kind that won't break."

Thursday: "For Christmas, I want to celebrate chanukah, so we can eat those pancakes, and light things."

The Menorah trumps the Advent Wreath by a ratio of 2:1.  It's simple math.  More lighting things equals better.  Add in a non-breakable Jesus and you've got yourself a good time. 

C has yet to say, "For Christmas I want a Red Rider BB gun with a compass and a thing which tells time."  But, I credit myself with nothing because it's only a matter of time before she catches on that most kids ask for goods other than non-breakable nativity figures and new religion for Christmas.  Tick tock.

In the spirit of the season, today we went to the mall, and at the end of a very short errand, dropped into a toy store where C played with some Papo figurines, and also some rabbits that wear clothes and live in a house.  Whenever we're in a shop, bookstore, anywhere with toys for sale, she quickly drops to the floor and begins to play.  Today was no different, except that this store was packed.  So crowded that Miss C eventually dropped the well-dressed rabbits and began to observe all the adults around her.  She watched people pull things off shelves, take them up to the cashier, pay money for them, and then walk out.  She turned to me with her mouth ajar, and said, "Is this the kind of place where you buy things?"  Apparently, she thought this mall place was more like a museum of play, where you come in, visit the rabbits, eat a soft pretzel, and go home.

We bid the rabbits good eve, headed out into the snow, and as the blast of air hit us, C asked, "So, what was that smell in there?"  And since I couldn't quite explain that it was Yankee Candle mixed with Perfume Hut mixed with Auntie Anne mixed with Abercrombie cologne, I told her that malls have a lot of different smells in them.

"That mall," she concluded, "wears too much perfume." 

Ambient aroma: simplified.