Duendesday

{a day to check in with a 9 yr old’s doings}

Any good birthday ideas? She’s feeling the pinch – she wants this year to be a big year (aren’t they all? but yes, 10, though not a cycle-year, is still a big year) and because she can’t have a party we’re hoping to make it as exciting as she might want…but how to pull it off? We were thinking a bunny, and had one in the works – it all seemed like a done deal: an already housetrained tiny lionhead bunny, we were ready to start building a little indoor pen for her room, it was even named Louise (which seemed like a sign – like Kate DiCamillo’s chicken story that has always been a favorite) but the woman was iffy on finally parting with it and the more we thought about it, it seemed like another mouth to feed and chore to negotiate. And we’re kind of thinking a treehouse – but that takes materials and time (the former which we don’t have/can’t quite afford and the latter we have little of, too), and we’re also considering maybe a real fish tank (10 gal, couple fish, a castle?)…any further thoughts? She’s too young for a tattoo (ha! joking – really joking).

She’s not a ‘stuff’ kid. Don’t get me wrong, she’s got plenty of stuff – too much stuff (how do they accumulate all this stuff? We rarely buy her anything) but even with the toys she has, she barely plays with them. She still plays often with her blocks (bought at a yard sale before she was born) and Lincoln Logs (generally with trails for matchbox cars, corrals for a collection of plastic animals, or marble runs) and once in a blue moon has a ‘stuffy’ party but mainly she’s outside making mud cakes or stick forts, swinging on the swing, riding her bike. She’s an events kid that has no events right now.

Last year we found her a great dresser but the previous owners had painted it inside and out – so much so that the drawers would not open or slide. So Josh stripped the rails and the inside and with that, the front of the drawers. She recently painted it to her own liking and we rearranged her room (celebrated with a lovely tea party), and now I will move all her clothes up a size in the transition from the baby closet/dresser to a big kid dresser (this little baby closet/dresser was my brother’s when he was little -with all his little suits and ties that he liked to wear, then hung around for awhile finally used again by my sis-in-law for her three kids, and then back to us again for Duende – it has quite the little history!). So many clothes – and to be honest, besides a dress here or there, or as a gift, we’ve never bought her clothes, all have come from family or friends or free from the swap shack. It has been such a gift to have the hand-me-down-faeries take good care of us.

Ah, well, if you think of something good – pass it on, we need all the help we can get! I hope any of your birthdays that come and go are good ones – full of inventive surprises and a little bit of happiness. ❤