Page 25 of Deciding for Little Dallas
“You can use it next.”
“Well, what sweet girls sharing the paints and sponges,” another nursery worker said as she placed her purse in a cabinet behind the girls.
“Good morning, Ms. Phoebe,” Eloise greeted.
“Good morning, Ms. Phoebe," Dallas said, hoping it was okay that she used the woman's name. She must have been the same Miss Phoebe who’d called Daddy yesterday.
“Good morning, girls. How are you both today?”
“Good,” Dallas and Eloise answered at the same time. They grinned at each other before dissolving into Little girl giggles.
“Oh, no! I think we have a case of the sillies,” Ms. Phoebe said, sitting at the table with the Littles. “What are you two working on?”
“I’m making a card for my Daddy,” Dallas answered. She stamped the pumpkin sponge down on the paper under the witch’s hat.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Eloise asked, studying all of the art supplies. “There’s lots of choices.”
“There is no right or wrong answer,” Miss Phoebe said.
“Can I please do some sticker art instead?”
“Of course, sweet girl. Good job on asking for what you wanted.” Miss Phoebe stood and grabbed a bin from the art shelf and placed it on the table.
Dallas noticed there were lots and lots of pretty stickers. They were all sizes, super teenie ones, normal sized ones, big ones, and super huge ones. “Pretty!” she said, watching as Eloise sorted through them.
“I like the sticker sheets the best,” Eloise said, pulling out what looked like normal pieces of colored paper.
Dallas thought maybe the stickers were invisible.
Eloise picked up a pair of small scissors and started cutting shapes into the colored paper. Her tongue stuck out in concentration. Once she cut what Dallas thought was a bat, she pulled the back off the piece and stuck it to a piece of white paper. Oh! They weren’t invisible stickers, they were just one big sticker that you could cut into shapes. How fun!
“Good morning,” Tommy said.
Dallas smiled and waved at Tommy as he walked into the nursery with a woman. The woman told him to have a good day and gave him a hug.
“Do you want to paint, sweetie?” Ms. Phoebe asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Nanny J helped set Tommy up at the table with Eloise and Dallas. She pulled a yellow smock over his head and gave him some paint. “Do you want a coloring page or do you want to create your own art?”
“Coloring page, please. Could I have the unicorn if it is still in the folder?” he asked, looking so hopeful Dallas hoped it was still in the folder for him.
“You can, Tommy. I actually made a few more copies of it because I thought it might be popular.”
She handed him a picture of a unicorn with a pumpkin stuck on its horn. It was so silly, and Dallas giggled.
“Is so funny, right?” Tommy asked, cutting some sticker sheets. Dallas watched him in worry. Was he?going to cover up the spooky unicorn? Much to her relief he didn’t. He cut small squares and placed them inside the picture.
“Is like tile art!” Dallas exclaimed.
“Yes, mosaic-inspired art,” Tommy nodded.
“That’s so fun!” she exclaimed.
“Do you want to help me put the stickers on?”
“D-Do you mind if I help you?” Dallas really wanted to craft with him, but only if he really wanted her to.
