Magpie

Today was a particularly good day. Rosie's been going around for the last couple of days with that content and satisfied look that results from a job well done followed by a treat. In this case, she's finished with her second grade work and was promoted to third grade on Monday. Yesterday we went to the library and she's been absorbed by something interesting and new to read practically every conscious minute.

So today, we got up in a leisurely fashion, and then Rose decided to start working on her summer projects. She got out her microscope and notebook and started going through her new slides and drawing out her observations. Her dad punctured a finger and I made a slide smear for her. After six pages of notes and drawings - this from a kid who would rather jump off a cliff than complete a page of handwriting practice in school - she quietly put away her microscope and tidied up completely without any prompting.

Next, she decided she wanted to help out, and put a load of dishes into the dishwasher for the first time - nearly perfectly. "I felt I wanted to do something useful," she said. Darn straight that's useful! I'm glad to know that I can try to put this into a regular range of chores.

Overall, a very satisfying day for everyone. Though she was a bit distressed by her dad's reaction in the afternoon, when it turned out that she had been so attracted to the tiny screws in his computer case that she gathered them all up and secreted them in a dresser drawer. "They're so shiny!" she wailed. "I couldn't help it! I didn't know!" It's ok, I told her, you're just like a magpie. She loved that. Magpies came up in conversation all day. I had no idea there were so many literary phrases that included magpies.