Photo A Day, Day 22: Four Things

Since there are four people who live in my house on a regular basis, “four things” is a pretty easy subject. Actually, there are so many options to choose from that it becomes a difficult subject. Should I take a picture of our four dinner plates after we’ve finished eating? Should I take a photo of our four beverages at an average meal (interesting contrast of Daddy’s soda can, Mom’s coffee mug, Ryan’s plastic tumbler, and Katie’s sippy cup)? Should I line up one of each of our shoes? Should I eschew connecting to the four family members altogether and just pick four random objects that happen to be close together? I took advantage of a quiet moment and walked through the house waiting to see if any “four things” would catch my eye. And sure enough, they did: our four Easter baskets, lined up on top of the piano.

I love the uniqueness of each basket’s contents, and what those contents say about each owner. My daughter’s has a chocolate bunny in a bright pink box, stickers of princesses and fairies, and a cheerful bright red poppy growing kit. You can’t see it very well, but her basket is nearly devoid of jelly beans – not because she doesn’t like them, but because she has already snuck into her basket and shoveled piles of them into her mouth. My son’s basket has a cheery yellow package for his chocolate bunny, packs of Spiderman and rocket ship stickers, a sunflower growing kit, and the goopiest, gooiest chocolate egg the Easter Bunny could find. It also used to hold a Matchbox car which was immediately commandeered and has been tucked in some pocket or other ever since. My husband’s basket contains jelly beans, plenty of chocolate eggs, and an elegant, gold foil-wrapped chocolate rabbit. Mine contains a package of Peeps that will be opened prior to eating so as to attain the perfect state of staleness for the desired time of consumption. It also contained several K-cups which have already been consumed and enjoyed; likewise a goopy, gooey chocolate egg like my son's (I'm actually eating it while I'm writing this, so if you find any typos in this entry, it's all Mr. Cadbury's fault).

When I – ahem, I mean, the Easter Bunny – put those baskets together, there was some thought of adding nametags so the recipients would know whose was whose. But there can be no doubt as to who would delight in fairy stickers and who in rockets; who longs for high quality chocolate in gilt wrapping; and whose Easter would be made by a couple of cups of good coffee. The members of my family can easily be identified by those four things.