Fear of a Purple Man

I busted out my old Strawberry Shortcake dolls the other day, when I realized that Keira is now old enough that I can trust her not to eat the little shoes and stuff (though clearly I cannot trust her not to feed them to her baby sister, so vigilance is still necessary!). She thinks they're the most awesome thing ever!

When I was a little girl, I was terrified of the Purple Pie Man, so as I pulled out each doll and told her its name, I made sure to put him right in the middle of the pack and mention his name very nonchalantly...and yet the first thing she said was, "I don't like that mean man, Mama." She then proceeded to put him in her closet and shut the door. Later, she begged me to put the "mean guy" away before she would enter her room again, so right now he's living on top of the refrigerator, where he can do no harm.