The small joys

...that mean so much. While some of our friends show what talented people really can do in the way of home renovations in a year, we are nevertheless tickled pink at our own recent home improvements. Or rather, the recent improvements to our home. After nearly a year in our rental property, we finally made enough noise to get the attention of the property managers to two minor but persistent irritations we've had with the house.

As of today, and through no skill of our own, we have a kitchen faucet that stays in the "on" position without being held. It is now possible to hold Alice on my hip and fill a pot with water at the same time.

Even more momentous, those of you who have visited us in the past year will be relieved to know that earplugs are no longer required when using the bathroom fan. In fact, the newly quiet fan and the light are now on separate switches, meaning you can actually brush your teeth or comb your hair in complete silence--and still see what you're doing. We can now use the bathroom after Edith is in bed without groping around in the dark for fear of waking her up with the fan noise. And we can bathe her and hold a normal conversation while she is in the tub, rather than shouting over the roar of the jet engine in the ceiling.

Edith declared it the happiest day of her life. I reminded her of her birthdays and Christmas and vacations, and she insisted that it was still among a handful of best days in her life. When Tom got home after dinner, she danced around the house showing him the improvements before flinging herself into his arms and declaring herself wildly happy.

***

Unrelated, but "wildly" reminds me of her recent experimentation with adverbs and adverbial phrases:

"Unfortunately I have more than one pair of shoes, so when one gets wet I can wear another pair." (The lament of a child who would rather be barefoot??)

It started to get chilly while we were on a walk. "Reluctantly I have pockets in my sweater, so I can keep my hands warm."

And out of the blue, "For example, when will Daddy get home tonight?"

A case of faulty linguistic logic:

E: What are you doing, Mama?
G: I'm going downstairs to clean the gunk out of the utility sink. It's disgusting!
E: Oooh, can I come see the disgust?

And pearls of wisdom, unsolicited and otherwise:

"Moms are the ones who boss the family and tell them what to do. Dads are the ones who say yes to things that the kids want that the moms sometimes say no to."

When asked where she figured this out, Edith said school, referring to an occasion this past winter when the women teachers wouldn't let the kids pretend to ice skate on the frozen puddles in the sandbox, while the male pre-K teacher told them yes, to go have a great time. She extrapolated from there.

It may be that she has some sense of a related gender difference at home, though, judging by her response when I asked her what she thought Tom and I did with our time. Another blogging friend recently asked her four year old what he thought his parents' jobs were. Edith knew the basic answer to that question--Daddy's job is "to preach" and Mommy's job is "to be a teacher"--but when I asked what else she thought we did when not preaching or teaching, her answers were:

Daddy--work in his office, be at home, play with his kids

Mommy--clean the house, work in her office, give things to other people who need them

I was flattered to have an undeserved reputation for philanthropy but a bit deflated that I don't register with my daughter as spending a good deal of my time with her!