(no subject)

[mommydama]

Tomorrow, the girls and I are going over to hang out with the family that I was hoping would come to the Paschal service and didn't. Well, we will hang out with the mom and four kids anyway.  I just love this woman.  She fascinates me.  She has a Phd in Physics and was a college professor before having kids.  Now she has a five year old girl, three year old twins girls, and a four month old baby and stays home with them.  She is planning to homeschool.  It is really fun to talk to her, even though we are both somewhat cerebral introverts and conversation gets a bit stilted.  I enjoy her company nonetheless and would be happy just to sit in silence puncuated by random comments about theology, homeschooling, and children.  Her kids are absolutely adorable.  I don't know what it is about them, but everytime I see them, I can't help grinning. The three girls are almost always dressed alike, or similarly and have identical short haircuts.  The oldest just looks like a slightly larger version of the twins.  It gives me pleasure to see them all together in the same way it gives me pleasure to see my girls all together, even though they look NOTHING alike.  It is odd.  They are a "set".  Mine are too in an odd, Charlie's Angels kinda way.  Heh.  Anyway, I'm excited about hanging out with them.  They just moved into a new house, and when I talked to her tonight to get directions, she told me that another mom from the church and her kids will be coming over too.  This is a "very good thing" to me.  Perhaps I can work on another relationship that goes beyond "oh I recoginze your face from Church, what was your name?"    

Zoe found a dead, well preserved cricket in the basement several days ago and threw the "world's biggest fit" when we tried to throw it out.  She was absolutely fascinated by it.  Finally we agreed to let her keep if for a few days.  Her obsession has not yet wavered.  She construced a tent for it out of tissues and popsicle/craft sticks, put it in a small bowl inside the tent, and has set plastic palm trees from a dinosour set we have and other odd things (a piece of plastic coral from a sea animals set and some dried flowers) around the tent to "decorate" it and "give the cricket shade" (her words). It is an artistic arrangement actually.  I was thinking that if it was in an exhibit there were all kinds of  symbolic "meanings" we could give it.  She makes "sculptures" out of things outside all the time, artistic arrangements of rocks and sticks and leaves and whatever else she can find.  When you ask her what they are she just says "sculptures" or "treasure piles".  But they are very purposefully laid out. She spends unbelievable amounts of time on them.  My cousin's wife, when they were visiting us, was totally amazed by this.  She said it reminded her of some artist she had studied in college who made temporary sculptures out of natural materials outside.  I wish I could remember his name.  Zoe might find him interesting. Anyway, she has strange collector instincts.  She has an orange pop can in her room that I washed out for her and if you even hit that it is trash, she reacts with horror and sadness.  It is just beautiful to her.  She picks up sticks and rocks and leaves and acorns and all kinds of other "treasures" literally everywhere we go.  When we have forbidden anymore treasures, she weeps copious amounts.  On Saturday we went to a store she'd never been to before and she picked up a stick outside.  I said "Oh honey, please don't take that stick home, you already have so many, and the car is getting so dirty from your treasures."   
Tears immediately sprang into her eyes and she said "But I need it to remember!"  
"To remember what?" I asked
"This store! This place!" she wailed.

I realized suddenly that she really does remember where she picked up every single treasure in her collections.  Her room is full of them and she can tell you where every single acorn, pinecone, rock, dried leaf, or stick was acquired.  Needless to say, the stick came home with us. What does this particular behavior mean?  

I'm intrigued by my children. 

Comments

[justamy.livejournal.com]

She said it reminded her of some artist she had studied in college who made temporary sculptures out of natural materials outside. I wish I could remember his name.

i know his name! it's andrew (andy) goldsworthy and he's AMAZING. i have a few of his books.
http://www.artnet.com/artist/7145/andy-goldsworthy.html

[justamy.livejournal.com]

and i don't think zoe's behavior means anything more than what it is...she needs to keep things to keep her connected to her world. some people write. some people take photos. some people just remember. some people collect. i think zoe is fabulous and i hope that you and brad always encourage that side of her. think of the stories she will tell with her 'things' someday!

maybe you could get her a little camera. show her how to take pictures of her work. that way she can keep her visual memories even when the leaves and sticks inevitably turn to dust. that's VERY andy goldsworthy. :)

[mommydama.livejournal.com]

Yay! I was hoping you might know his name!

I don't think it means anything bad either. I'm just intrigued by it. And we do encourage her artisitic bent, to the best of our unartistic, uncreative abilities. I'm sure I don't do it very well sometimes (like my mistake with the stick), but I do try. I think it is very cool actually.

A camera is an excellent idea.

[justamy.livejournal.com]

i wasn't suggesting that you don't encourage it...i definitely do not think you made a mistake with the stick at all!!!! you said something that reflected your thoughts on the stick. when she told you heres, you accepted them. but even if you hadn't, one incidence is not "not encouraging" her. at some point ther WILL be a time that she can't take something home, artisitic intentions or not.

[greatestislove.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is fascinating.

[mimima.livejournal.com]

That's so awesome - I tend to be a stilted conversationalist too, but enjoyable (I hope) all the same.

And, she fascinates me too!

[pikefish.livejournal.com]

I used to do that, um, ok, still do! and I'm 38. I have a small sea shell on the ledge in our bathroom from a trip to Hilton Head Island. It was cool that day and windy but the sun was out. There were no shells to be found on the beach but I found that one and it was perfect. thanks for the pleasant memory! :)