Lately, when I turn out the light before putting Eliza to bed, she wants me to tell her a story about a little girl named Eliza. The trick is, it can’t be fictional. She wants to hear about her day. Or a day in the recent past. And if you start recalling what you think are the important details, she will correct you or make you add things that you forgot.
“Once upon a time there was a beautiful, smart, and brave girl named Eliza. Mommy picked her up from school and we went to the park.”
“No, mommy. First we went to CVS.”
“Ok, so we went to CVS and then we went to the park.”
“We got juice at CVS.”
“Ok, so we got some juice at CVS and took it with us to the park.”
This goes on for a while until you get it just right.