What's in Your Bag?

The other day, Yael asked me to find something.

She has always been something of a magpie.
There are a number of small handbags, some sparkly and pink, others hand-me-down grown-up purses, that are strewn around the house, filled to the brim with Yael's stuff.

When Yael decides that she wants to find something specific, however, she usually can't remember where it is. What I have learned recently, though, is that she has a clear idea of what she has and what she wishes she could find. She just doesn't remember where she stashed it. I'm sure a full house cleanup is in order, not only to help her find things but to help me get rid of things! That is, however, another blog post.

I digress.

Yael asked me to help her find a pair of sunglasses. So I suggested that we look in her purse(s).

She brought me her current favorite.

I was so giggly at what was in the bag that I had to photograph her, a la US Weekly.

Note the other purse over her shoulder.

My favorite item is the single blue Duplo Lego. And then there's the stack of haphazardly folded papers with scribbling all over them. "My notes," she called them. If you, ahem, seek out the bottom of her mother's purse, you might very well find the same stack of folded papers... (Also note that she has not one but two pretend Blackberry phones and that we did not find the desired sunglasses.)

I am so often struck by this girl-child. She is so uniquely herself, creating a rich and full fantasy world in which she is the star, and in which she embroiders stories where she plays all the characters. I love to watch her at play, and I always wonder if her differences from her older brothers is purely a product of her gender. All of my children differ from each other, but as the only girl in the bunch, I will never know how much is nature and how much nurture. She is different, no question. Is it a combination of her genetic material that has created her personality or is there an actual difference between boys and girls?

I don't know. I will never know, certainly.

For now, though, I will continue to relish her imagination, her storytelling, her quirks and her creativity.

And I will keep looking for the sunglasses.