Coco wanted to make a To Do List for the morning. So, I wrote out the words she didn’t know, and she proceeded to hide in a corner and make her To Do List.

As I worked on the computer, she didn’t make a sound. I could hear pen and pencil rubbing against the tile behind her piece of paper as she worked on the floor. We were both content because when my daughter is occupied, I can dabble at something for awhile.

About ten minutes went by, and she stood next to me and leaned her head against my shoulder. My time was up. When I didn’t pay immediate attention to her, she began to wobble the underside of my upper arm.

What’s that mami? she said.

It’s my flop.

What’s flop?

It’s the fleshy soft underarm of my limb. Even though I’ve lost 45 pounds from the pregnancy (plus a little more), amd no matter how much exercise I do, the flop will not go away. My mother has flop, I have flop, and so too shall you have flop.

She showed me the To Do List. Turns out it was for me. There was a picture of a comb, toothbrush, plate with food, a diaper, and her brother in his high chair tossing food on the floor.

This is what you have to do in the morning mami.

She began wiggling my flop. I warned her: stay away from the flop. It’s just one thing I don’t want to be reminded of.