My cousin and I ran a 5K today. It was in a park with a natural, wide path through a wooded area that is laid out specifically for walking, running, and on some weekends, races. Both she and I had run in separate races at this location, so we knew the course well.
The race was well run, the weather was almost seventy degrees (in January!), and aside from being quite windy, it was a perfect day for a race. My cousin and I used the time to chat and catch up. I'm reasonably sure she and I would never run out of things to talk about. We finished the race, picked up our medal and race mug, and headed home.
While we were gone, Uncle Dale had helped my children build a fort in the bonus room. There was a watchtower with a cross boy (Nerf) ready to fend off intruders. Blankets, furniture, and other items had been added to fortify the fort. It's a masterpiece of work. I suspect it will remain standing for some time.
After showering, my cousin and I took my daughter to 5 Below so she could select some items for her Christmas present. My daughter loves this store. She and Aunt Rebecca walked around with Aunt Rebecca describing the merchandise on the shelves, letting my daughter feel them. They discussed what she might want to put back and what would be a good use of her money.
There was a lot of Frozen II merchandise. I picked up a plush Olaf and let my daughter feel him, pointing out the sticks for arms and on his head, his carrot nose, and the general shape of his snowman body. I told her how Anna had taken those items as well as the coal (rocks?) that made up his buttons and put them in her bag when he evaporated at one point in the movie and how later when he came back, she still had them to put back on his body.
These kinds of opportunities I don't get very often where I can let her feel the exact shape of something she knows about but can't see. She was able to see when the first Frozen movie came out, and I believe she has a memory of Olaf, but it was an excellent chance to show her his shape again.
On the next shelf, there was a toy with Anna in the ice canoe Elsa created at one point in the movie that she used to send Anna and Olaf to safety. It was a specific shape and not something that I could easily describe in words. I brought it over to my daughter and let her feel its shape, reminding her where it was in the movie.
We see so much. A picture truly is worth a thousand words. The inverse is it takes a thousand words to fully describe something. As a result, very few things are fully described to my daughter. She gets a picture, "in her mind's eye," as she says. Mostly, those pictures are largely incomplete or inaccurate. It was nice to be able to let her feel the shape of a few things from the movie she sings the songs from constantly.
The Big Boy Update: My son came and told me the other day" something made me sad today. Madison came back and now they don't want to play with me." He and the two girls don't get on well much together because my son wants to direct the play in a way they don't enjoy. He does so with a forcefulness that usually causes conflict ending with them not wanting to play with him. We've been trying to give him guidance on how to do cooperative play. This morning he did a good job and he, my daughter and Madison got along for a good while playing together.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter came inside crying bitterly this afternoon. I came to see what had happened. She had remembered our dog, Lucy, who died some years ago while we were driving home from vacation. Lucy didn't interact with the children much, mostly eating food they dropped to her. My daughter suddenly missed her, saying she loved her more than Matisse and she never wanted to leave here (where we live) and move away from where Lucy was buried in the back yard. Her big emotions passed in a few minutes but only after I told her Lucy would always be in our yard and she could always come to see her, even if she grew up, moved away, got married and had her own children.
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