She's galloping along

The My Little Pony invasion continues.  It started innocently enough one day when I was shopping and needed a diversion for the little miss.  Since she was showing interest in girly things, like brushes and makeup, I thought the easy-to-hold My Little Pony was a good option.  Little did I know what I was really getting myself into.

They are just so damn cute.  How can anyone resist?  Sweet sherbety pastel colors, big doe eyes, little design on the hindquarters, and the oh-so-groomable hair make them just about kill you with cuteness.  And she loves them. I'd have to say that next to PlayDoh, painting, and her various marker experiments, the MLP is her new favorite along with Hello Kitty.  Ok, so HK is really my favorite, but I share.  Everyone knows that one of the best things about having kids is getting to play with their toys too, without having to explain to the salespeople in ToysRUs why a grownup has been standing in the Barbie aisle for three hours chatting up the little girls about which one is best.

Right now, the girl toy in the Happy Meal at McDonald's is MLP.  It's a scaled down version of the ones we usually get, the perfect size for her.  They are giving out a variety of them too, not just the same ones over and over.  I've even scored two different ones on the same visit, by making the 'mistake' of asking for an extra girl toy instead of the boy one for Nolan.  He doesn't care about the toy anymore---much.

Tonight, we are on our way home from aikido, and I cruised the drive-thru for them.  As we are driving along, I hear:

"Oh, little mamas, you got a new one!  It's orange!"  "My poh-neee!  Open it, open it!"

Ben opens it and hands it over.  A few minutes later, I hear him say to her, "Want me to brush it?" 

I stifle a laugh, as does Nolan.  "What?  Her hair is a mess,"  Ben says, without missing a beat.  "You like them,"  Nolan teases.  "I've seen all of you 'helping' Audrey with them," I counter Nolan.  I give him the look out of the corner of my eye so he'll knock it off.  Miraculously, it does.  He knows not to mess with me at this time of night.  Good boy.

About a week ago, Ryan came up to me.  "Mommy, I have to tell you something, but don't tell the boys."  "Ok." "I like those little ponies.  NOT the big ones, the little ones like the one Audrey got at McDonald's. Don't tell them, ok?"  "Do you want me to get one for you next time?"  "Maybe.  But say it's Audrey's.  No, nevermind.  I'm just kidding, I don't want one for me."  Bless his little heart, I can see he does want one.  I snuck one in extra the next time around, and he took me aside to tell me not to do that again, but publicly made a show of 'giving' it to Audrey.  Even a six year old needs to save face now and then. 

I love it when they let their boy guard down long enough to have fun with having a little sister around.  Of course, they are sure to tell me that they are playing with her with her own toys under the guise of helping me out. 

They'd never admit that they're doing it because they might like her things, or because she's got them under her spell.

But I know better.