"That's Ok"

I'm dealing with a slight cold this week. In the evening, my throat is a little scratchy, and I've found myself coughing through story time. So last night, I decided to abbreviate the books Tobin and I were reading by trying to omit adjectives here and there. Tobin caught me both times. My first attempt was during A Visitor for Bear. It went like this:

"And Bear made a nice fire to two sets of toes."
"'Crackling fire'"
"Right, thanks T. 'Crackling fire.'"

I read the rest of that book as it was written. Next on our list was The Berenstein Bears in the Dark, a book we hadn't read for a few weeks. As we worked our way to happy resolution of Sister Bear's fear of the dark, I tried to skip a word again:

"Sister Bear couldn't believe her big Papa had ever been afraid of the dark."
"'Big powerful Papa,' Dad."
"Right. 'Big powerful Papa."
"Hey Dad?"
"Yes Tobin?"
"That's OK. Sometimes I have trouble with words, too."