On one particularly hot summer day, Alyssa was wearing a dark blue sleeveless dress with her white blonde hair in a funny ponytail sticking off the top her head. I had finished cleaning the kitchen and knew that she was getting the toys ready for us to make a Barbie city in the living room, so I needed to have a little visit to the “ladies’ room.”
As I sat down on the toilet, I noticed that a GIANT letter “A” was peeking out from the wall behind the bathroom door. I closed the door and there on the wall, written in giant blue twelve inch high letters was the name “ALYSSA.” Never before had she ever written on anything other than paper, so I couldn’t believe my eyes!
After a moment of shock, I called for her…
“Alyssa. Can you come to the bathroom for a minute?”
“Coming Mommy.”
I let her into the bathroom and closed the door so that the wall was fully exposed. Looking into her smiling face and fully expecting her to lie, I asked, “Did you do this?”
With a sparkle in her big brown eyes, she proudly said, “Yes Mommy!”
I was surprised by her happiness. “Well…Alyssa,” I said, “Why did you write your name on the wall?”
“I wanted to see what my name looked like reallllllly big,” she said as she spread both her arms out wide to show me just how big she wanted her name to be written.
“Do you like your name?”
“Yes!”
I wanted to laugh. “Well, Mommy is going to buy you some reallllly big paper, okay?”
“Okay Mommy.”
“So don’t write on the wall anymore, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy. Are you going to write your name on the wall too before you get the paper?”
“No, I will wait to write my name really big on the paper.”
Her huge uneven letters remained behind the bathroom door for quite a while, announcing to anyone in the bathroom that Alyssa liked her name and she liked it when it was written really big…especially if it was written with a blue crayon on the bathroom wall.
Joan says
Cute story! Alyssa was just announcing her presence to the world – and she made sure to do it in a room where she had her audiences undivided attention. 🙂
Sherry Riter says
LOL You are so right! Alyssa was so adorable when she innocently confessed because it really was an announcement and not a confession. LOL
Stéfan says
This is a great post. I enjoyed it very much.
Sherry Riter says
Thank you!
teresa vett says
I have never forgotten my visit to the bathroom when I saw it, I almost lost my breath lol. I was not sure you had found it yet. She was so adorable, every minute of her wee life and I adore her.
You did your art work with an orange crayon at the bottom of the stairs and all the way up it, lol.
love you Sherry. Thanks for the memories of both of you and Alyssa
Sherry Riter says
You’re welcome Mom. I love you too. {{{hugsss}}}
Skip_D says
hehehe… great story! & yes, she’s got a great name – no, a really, really great name! …after all, Alyssa was the other name of the Carthaginian queen Dido, famed in myth & epic – you don’t get much greater than that!
just one thing… no pictures of her big name in blue crayon??? 😀
Sherry Riter says
LOL Back when she wrote her name, there was only cameras with film in my house *gasp* New mothers today do not realize what a treasure having a digital camera is while their children are small. I knew you could imagine the picture so I didn’t ask Alyssa to recreate it because she would have GLADLY wrote on the wall! LOL
Queen Mommy says
I love this story!
Sherry Riter says
Thank you!!! {{{hugsss}}}
Liza says
Ahh, this is so adorable and cute! :p
Sherry Riter says
Thank you Liza! {{{hugsss}}}
Anne says
Such a Sweet story 🙂
LOL Joan, Their undivided attention and a somewhat captured audience as well… hahaha
I Love the enthusiastic innocence of small children. Thanks Sherry… for the nice smile to brighten my day! 🙂
-Anne
Sherry Riter says
Thank you Anne! I’m glad you enjoyed one of my favorite memories. 🙂
Kenny Sellards says
🙂 🙂 Thank you for sharing… err… re-sharing… this adorable story! 🙂 🙂
Sherry Riter says
LOL You’re welcome! I LOVE this story and memory! 😀