Watch What Happens When You Give a Toddler a Newspaper

The highlight of my weekend was seeing my toddler go crazy with the Sunday edition of The Tuscaloosa News. We had a busy Saturday: breakfast at IHOP, shopping at Target and the Mall; our Sunday was super-busy, too: we had brunch at Another Broken Egg Café after a family portrait session in downtown Northport with my favorite photographer (shout out to David Smith of DSmithImages). We came home Sunday afternoon and my daughter, Dolores, took a nap. By the time she woke up, it was storming and we were stuck indoors. This could have been a disaster--kids hate being trapped inside and getting bored.

Lucky for me: Dolly is impervious to boredom; the kid will always find a way to entertain herself. This time it was with a newspaper. She tore the paper into small pieces and then tossed said pieces around like confetti. She picked up all the pieces, collected them in a hamper, and then dumped them out onto her head. She dive-bombed into a pile of paper pieces. It was hysterical.

Sure, my inner neatfreak was screaming, "NO. STOP THAT. MESS. MESS. THIS IS TOO MESSY," but my kid was having fun--and I was, too.

After tearing the paper to shreds, she found a pair of my old sunglasses. JUST LOOK AT HOW SHE'S POSING. She's such a ham. I LOVE THIS KID!