Wil Shakespeare Rides Again

If you do not follow me on Facebook, you may be wondering why I have a picture of a William Shakespeare action figure atop a dinosaur. There is definitely a story behind this.

As we have predetermined, Squid is gender-blind when it comes to toys. She has some dolls that she rocks and "burps" and throws. She has blocks and balls and rubber duckies that she pits against each other in epic battles. And she has dinosaurs that she rocks and burps and pits against each other in epic battles. I often find myself wondering what is going through her mind as she plays with her toys, and I really can't wait for her to expand her vocabulary so that she might share a glimpse of her world with me.

A few weeks ago, as I was cooking dinner, I listened in on a rather strange conversation the spouse was having with Squid:

I even took the time to post a status about it!

There were comments about Shakespeare being old, but not quite a fossil, and what noises dinos and dead playwrights make (according to Squid, they all say, "RAWR!"). There were many puns that involved the juxtaposition of famous monologues and ancient taxonomy. And, of course, there were pictures:

"No, Daddy. Wil rides this one!"

Greg even fashioned a harness from a pipe-cleaner to help Wil ride his dino:

But Wil was a bit drunk and couldn't hold on for very long. You know how those writers are.

Much of the rest of our evening was filled with jokes, puns, and status updates that made our teacher friends groan. Who needs cable television when you have a toddler, some plastic dinosaurs, and a William Shakespeare action figure? Right?

It was a great laugh, but soon forgotten as we found other things to explore and destroy. Or so we thought....

I had to take Squid with me to a meeting last week and I told her that she could bring a couple of toys to entertain herself with. I put out her WonderWoman car, a teddy bear, Spiderman, and her dinos. She picked up one of the dinosaurs (the reddish, raptor-y, stegosaurus-type one), turned it this way and that, inspecting it closely. Then she dropped it and raced out of the room on a mission. Curious, I peeked around the corner to see what the deal was. She came trotting back to the living room, carrying William Shakespeare, Action Hero. She grabbed his faithful steed and was ready to go!

May her high school English teacher forgive me.