Piper loves the dark side.  She roots for Vader, and she cries when he dies. We knew that raising Star Wars girls could have consequences, but we never imagined it might go this far. She’s even perfected her Darth Piper impersonation.

She’s also a big fan of the Emperor.  Shooting lightening out of your hands is cool and apparently not the least bit scary. Her sister is hiding under the couch and Piper wants more blood on the screen. And that’s the thing.  What should scare Piper actually fascinates her and what is not the least bit scary sends her into a frenzy. When we took her to see “A Christmas Carol” at Ford’s Theatre we worried that the pyrotechnics and ghosts might be too much.  We prepped her with the Dickens story, the Kelsey Grammar movie version, and an introduction to spirits of every sort. When the ghost of Christmas future, who looked a lot like the Grim Reaper, floated above our heads Piper laughed out loud.  I had to cover her mouth to hide the giggles. But guess what does terrify her? Mannequins in department stores.

Regardless of the information we provide, Piper can’t decide if they’re real or fake.  She likes to get really close to them, daring herself even closer, then sprint away and clutch one of our legs.  Every time we go shopping, it’s the same set of questions: “Is that one real?  How about that guy? Is he real?  And that one over there? Fake or real?  How about the bald one?  It looks real.  Is she fake?  She looks real.”

And so our search for a Darth Vader mannequin from the dark side continues.