For The Love Of Hearts

The heart obsession has begun.

I guess it was inevitable. The natural progression of all things girly. First came love for all things pink, then for butterflies, rainbows and My Little Ponies, and now... hearts.

It's really not that bad in the grand scheme of things. But I HATE hearts. I loathe them. I refuse to wear drop heart earrings or a heart pendant necklace. I don't like hearts on my clothes, or on my shoes, or on my bookmarks. My bedding is heart free, as are all other linens in my home. And no heart shaped candy dishes or paper clip holders for me.

Gabi does not hate hearts. Up until now, I have been able to keep the heart stuff to a minimum. There are a few things she owns that have them, like her pink mary jane crocs, which have little heart shaped holes on the toe instead of circles. And a red Naartije shirt with a velvet red cut-out on the chest. Oh, and an I HEART NYC t-shirt that her godmother sent her with little crystals forming the shape of the heart- now THAT is cute! Gabi IS a girl, and I know it's typical for hearts to be found on girls clothing. As long as it's in moderation I'm totally okay with it. But it didn't take over her everyday existence.

Those days are over. Gabi is now in LOVE with hearts. Moderation is no longer a key word. We have to draw them, cut them, stamp them out of playdoh. If we're outside on the patio, we're embedding hearts into the fence with chalk. If we're in the bathtub, we're creating hearts on the wall with bubbles. Hearts are everywhere.

The other day at Target, as we passed through the bathroom accessories section, she screamed out, "There's a heart!! Can we get it, mommy? Can we? Can we get it, please?" And I responded, "No, sweetie, you don't need a plastic tissue holder." I mean, who decorates their bathroom with a heart motif? Is there anyone who really does that? I don't want Gabi to know that that's even an option!

Hopefully this is just another one of her phases. I guess the good side in all of this is that I actually know how to draw a heart, unlike zoo animals. Or mermaids. Gabi was always so disappointed with my creations (imagine a stick figure hot dog for almost everything that had four legs), but my hearts she adores.