Here is part three of highlighting stuff we do during a week. There are definitely repetitive and mundane things that happen along with these highlights, which I will address sometimes, but here are some things I have not previously mentioned…
Birthday Party. Every week or so Brigit decides it is the birthday of one of her toys. This week was no exception. It was Sarah the Reindeer’s turn. So far we have made and wrapped for her two presents. Decorations were made and put up, playing with how many rings need to be added to a loop chain to get the perfect amount of ‘drop’ for it. Then a cake was baked and decorated. Sarah was a bit stoic about the whole thing, but we had fun!
Renaissance Festival. Days at festivals are always long and dusty. Whether it is dry or rainy there is a layer of dirt on all bodies. Knowing this, we go without worrying about such things and the expectation of a Brigit nap on the way home. This past weekend was as expected. Brigit wanted to do they bungee bounce, the pirate ship swing and anything else that caused thrills. 
We ate meat on sticks and frozen fruity stuff and unfrozen fruity stuff. Brigit’s first tooth even came out in some of the frozen fruity stuff! We watched artists paint and sculptors sculpt and performers perform. Brigit walked around with her mouth half open. Not to mention a grandma, multiple great aunts, a great uncle, an aunt and some of our lovely young friends who were experiencing the festival for the first time. There was also face painting, hair braiding, turtle races, elephant riding and parade watching. I am tired just writing about it. They great thing about these festivals is that so much is going on, the cell phone reception is horrible and the creativity is overflowing. Brigit always follows the experience with a wealth of ideas and spurts of imagination. They are wonderful! A few weeks ago she spend a bunch of her money on a new toy, but set some money aside for this festival. She carefully decided what to purchase, but ended up deciding against it. It did not hurt her pocketbook to refrain, for there is so much to entertain by just watching, and having a grandma around to make purchases does not hurt either. We were inundated with spells from her new wand. She got frustrated after the tenth time she tried to stupefy my and I did not freeze. her brain was full of the world of Harry Potter from our recent chapter reading and it was fun to watch her role play as the day progressed. There is another festival in the fall, and I will be curious to see what she remembers then.
Home Care. As with any child, Brigit considers chores around the house are a bit boring, and rarely on a list of top things to do with her time. We attempted to exchange effort for funds a while back but she wanted nothing to do with it. I must note that a week later she did the chores proposed and was proud to do them without mention of compensation. Something got through so we were happy. Learning to contribute to the household is important, but not something we want to force to strongly, for a kid should be a kid. She is always up for sweeping and folding laundry or fixing things, so it is a reasonable start. As for the kitchen it is naturally contradictory to Brigit helping, what with all the high cabinets and breakables. We don’t refuse her help in the kitchen, but do so is frustrating for her so is a lesson in patience. Brigit works on putting things away and cleaning, and we have a policy of using what we have (so breaks and damage is no issue), but she still gets tired of the up and down. When she shows interest in cleaning, or learning how, we embrace it. When she wants to sit and not help she is made aware it will take longer (kinda) and makes a choice between helping and more time with us doing something else. Making choices on how time is spent is important and will be something she does all her life. Time versus money, money versus time…
Care and Feeding of Rollie Pollies. In her continued quest to provide complete habitats for anything that fits in a jar, Brigit absconded with a plastic food container, filled it with stuff from the back yard, then added rollie pollies and poop. Her uncle was not impressed with her bringing it in and putting it on the kitchen counter next to his lunch, but they were attentively cared for until released. I expect another collection of bugs soon, for Brigit is out foraging for ‘something more interesting than rollie pollies’ right now! Maybe something that does not eat poop?
Music. Since seeing the movie Momma Mia last year Brigit has been an admirer of ABBA. Multiple times each week, this one being no different, she disappeared with my phone and found their music. I soon here it blasting out of my phone and Brigit is swinging and twisting her body, singing along at the top of her voice. Like me, she seems to have an uncanny ability to remember song lyrics.Kinda funny listening to her sing lyrics she has no understanding of – unrequited love, infidelity, etc. Another interesting aspect of music is along the same vein. When we are driving around and different songs come on the radio she asks me ‘what is this song about?’ and inevitably the answer has something to do with love, hate, happiness, sadness, angst of all kinds. This week Brigit asked why all the songs are about feelings. I asked her the question back. She thought for a moment and said, ‘people think about how they feel a lot, because it is something that they cannot control’. Well, that ended up starting a long conversation. Yay pop music!