Susie

 My daughter has entered her teacherly phase; she is caring for a small cloth duck, an ornament for a Christmas tree. She bathes and feeds the duck, and brushes its teeth.

Also, she tries to take care of me. I once read, in my Montessori days, that small children should be able to manage with a simple drinking glass; teach a child to hold a glass with two hands, and then no training wheels are necessary. But my daughter inevitably spills her milk and turns to me, and struggles to help me manage my own frustration. So, last week, she said: "Just give me the cup with the lid. The other one will make a spill."

There are limits to Susie's abilities. Yesterday, she held out a wrapper with turkey residue. She dangled the residue in front of her dog--then said, "Bad dog! Bad dog!" She was responding to Salvy's natural interest in the turkey residue. I disputed Susie's assessment--but I'm not sure I "reached" my daughter. One never (or one rarely) can tell....

We're reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. A group of talking letters climbs up a coconut tree; the letters fall to the ground, after an earthquake, but they just decide to climb again. And again. They never learn. This is obviously a masterpiece--simple, authoritative, well-paced. The work *looks* easy.