Turkey

Thanksgiving is a-comin', but this post is about the other turkey. You know, the kind you buy pre-sliced in packets at the grocery store. The kind who's relationship to an actual turkey, even in the past, is suspect at best. The kind Liel loves.

To be fair, Liel is a pretty equal opportunity meat lover. Sausage is probably her true love, but so far she hasn't turned up her nose at anything the once roamed the earth. Still, pre-sliced turkey is a go-to item for her, since we have it in our fridge 50% of the time and she considers it to be a tasty and appropriate snack for a growing girl.

A couple of days ago I had the fridge open and Liel spotted the container of turkey. "Want turkey!" she cried, pointing. "May I have turkey, mama?" So I pulled out the container and opened the lid. "Get it myself!" she begged, so I held it out at her level. "I want dis one!", Liel announced, as she delicately plucked at the slice on top. It stuck a bit of the one below, but eventually she got it out. I started to put the lid on, but hesitated. Liel was eyeing her turkey slice with growing distaste. It had a tear in it. "I do not love this one!" she said, handing it to me. "Want dat one!" and she pointed to the slice on top. "OK", I said, knowing that it was pointless to argue. Liel is in a really fastidious phase right now and it's important to her that things be just so. I held out the container again. "Here you go". We repeated the process, complete with the slice tearing a tiny bit as she lifted it out. This time she realized that the goods were damaged immediately. "No, no.", she said, "I do not love this one. Want dat one!" And so it went, on through the remaining slices of turkey. Luckily for me there were only five or six left, and when we reached the bottom and ALL the turkey had been found to be defective she deigned to choose from amongst her former rejects, tearing and cramming it into her mouth with abandon.