Maggie has a favorite game lately. She gets a sort of squealish delight out of it every time. And it really has nothing to do with the time of year; she just got the idea from somewhere and has run with it. At least once a day (and sometimes more) she'll go to her room and shut the door. About 5 minutes later she'll emerge with her backpack and announce "It's your birthday!" It's always my birthday and I always have to go sit on the hearth where she'll present me with the backpack. Sometimes she sings "happy birthday to Momma"; sometimes not. I'm supposed to open the backpack and remove everything that's been packed inside, of course exclaiming excitedly about every item I take out. It's always basically the same things in there: 2 plates, 2 bowls, 2 cups, a tea cup, sometimes a pot with a lid, sometimes a spoon, often a knife, some sort of fruit or vegetable, and occasionally a doll to share it all with. And she's very rigid about politeness. "Say 'Thank you Maggie.' " Very sweet.
