Here is an example of how Brigit’s brain works. Whether considered appropriate by others or not, we expose Brigit to anything we expose ourselves to. Exposure ranges from technological advances, foods, hiking, human behaviors, personal finances….I can go on and on. Bottom line, we give her access to as much information as possible, assuming that she may not understand every nuance, but the information will get her brain working and develop questions. The approach also gets David and me to think about what we are doing, because explaining it is part of the process. One area of exposure includes the concepts of real and pretend, including the sometimes funny and sometimes scary world of movies that include all types of vampires, zombies, witches, ghouls and goblins. One of Brigit’s early exposures at the age of three was to the Wizard of Oz on the big screen. A local theater was playing it as part of the film’s 75th anniversary celebration. Brigit enjoyed the movie, but got a little scared when the Wicked Witch of the West took up the whole screen. I must admit, that big green and black character taking up a whole wall could certainly be disconcerting. She expressed her concerns and we shared my seat for the rest of the movie. Her interest did not seem to be founded in fear, but in curiosity. She reminded me and herself that the movie was pretend, and I think the wet demise of the character later in the movie was reassuring to her. In our desire to introduce Brigit to self-sufficient females we have also showed her Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She seems to understand the difference between real and pretend, so we sit there and watch the show together, answering her questions about the plot and what different characters are – human and non-human, dead and undead. If I ever wondered about how she processes the information – if it all seemed more real than we thought for her or even scary beyond imagination – it was confirmed recently in a parking garage. I present to you the above picture. The orange figures are on a wall of a parking garage, painted to show them walking towards a door. Brigit saw them and immediately ran up to the front of the line and started running in place, yelling “look mommy! I am being chased by zombies! Ahhhh!” I laughed and of course took a picture. We laughed about it some more when we got outside and she pretended I was a zombie, running circles around me while I made zombie noises. We got some reactions from passers by, which included confused looks and smirks, which is usual for us. I think she has the concepts of real and pretend compartmentalized, at least for now…