Haunted Houses

A house that is inhabited by ghosts is known as "haunted".  Our sweet little home here has no ghosts, and is therefore certainly not haunted, and yet our family lives every single day surrounded on all sides by personalities unseen.  There is a whole troupe of these characters and some of them are of indeterminate age and gender.  I will however, endeavor to tell you what I do know about them.**

The main one is a shadowy figure known as Shurter*.  He (sometimes "she") has, by all accounts, done everything, been everywhere (but most particularly New York City) and he has seen it all.  He is at times an infant, and at others he has been as old as the age of 9.  He has a birthday nearly every day.  Sometimes he is potty trained, and sometimes he is still an infant in diapers.

Then we come to Piglet.  Piglet is Shurters sidekick.  He comes along for the ride on many of Shurter's adventures.  Often Piglet needs to be scolded for being naughty.  Hallie is usually in charge of said scolding, but I have caught Hanna at it occasionally as well.  If it is not Shurter's birthday, odds are it is Piglet's birthday. 

The mysterious Waseeth comes next.  He is Shurter's quieter, shyer friend.  He rarely makes an appearance, and strictly when necessary for whatever game is afoot.

Next we come to the real babies of the group.  (I say real babies because sometimes Shurter is a baby, but these kids are, without exception, always infants.)  Baby Rotha is the favorite.  She is Shurter's baby sister, and very consistently so.  She has no teeth and no hair, but I am assured by the local authorities on the subject that she will someday get both.

The other baby is Baby Martha.  She is very similar to Baby Rotha, she shows up when two babies are required or when baby Rotha is sleeping.  She is often crying and needs to be soothed by Cheerios.

This family also has some pets that need to be taken care of throughout the day.  There are 2 main dogs, and 2 main cats, although at any given time you may find yourself introduced, and induced to pet a barrage of others.  The two main dogs are Ruffy, of course, and Wally.  The cats are Aeesh and Oshie Ricie.  These cats sleep a lot, but love to be snuggled and petted whenever someone is willing to do so.

It does feel cramped from time to time living with all of these extra personalities, but inasmuch as they keep my girls well entertained and allow me an amount of peace and quiet I've seen no reason to evict them.  I will admit that my patience now and then runs a trifle thin from hearing ad nauseum about Shurter, he does seem to be a good fellow and so I am trying to learn to love him.

I think this will be a much quieter home when these friends finally decide to leave us.

*I don't know how to spell most of their names, Piglet being the obvious exception.
**Rest assured, my daughters do have real friends.