Happy Hands

I wanted to tell you guys about something that happened today. I'm currently taking it easy and resting from the busy times. Conveniently now it's also Erkki's vacation so it's an excellent time to spend some family time. Siiri hasn't even seen her babysitter for a week and she absolutely loves spending time with her parents. Suddenly she's so attached to both me and Erkki. When she wakes up and Erkki goes to pick her up, she asks for mommy. When I go there, she asks for daddy. She shows me hew primitive drawings and she even lets me fix her hair. She also loves playing with my hair or combing it or just patting my head.

So it wasn't very surprising today when Siiri walked up to me and rubbed the tips of my hair between her hands. I was playing with Xbox and Siiri was running from one room to another. The rooms are as baby-safe as necessary with Siiri. There are places where she could harm herself if she got creative, and trust me, kids are very creative in that respect. However, she rarely ever harms herself in our home. When she does, it's mostly just by accident and it's things that could have been avoided if we kept Siiri safe in a locked padded room with no tables to hit her head and no corners to run into. Well, me and Erkki sure have a LONG-LOOONG way to go toward keeping Siiri "safe". I mean, we actually let her open and close drawers by herself and we have not taped up any cupboards. Heavy DANGEROUS books are at hands reach, and since we didn't have any bright ideas where else to keep our cutlery, Siiri also has access to table knives (which are sharper than some people's "real" knives). Well, if Siiri tried any funny business, we'd have it differently, but Siiri's just too bright to be kept locked in a padded room. She reaches cutlery easily and takes out spoons and sometimes forks to "feed" her dolls and stuffed animals. She never takes the knives. The first time she opened that drawer I explained why knives are bad. Now sometimes she very carefully touches a knife and says with a serious expression, "OW!" .

She's also super-fast. When I try to tell her, "Hey, Siiri, it's bedtime. It's time to put on your night clothing." and I reach the word, "beeedd...." PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT-pat-pat, and she's already in the other end of the apartment. I wait one second, she runs back to a safe viewing distance. I finish my word "..bedtime", she laughs maniacally (in a cute kid way) and off she goes to the other end of the apartment. She usually does this 4 or 5 times before she's in her night clothing. Unless I put her in chains, there's no way I can keep her from doing what kids normally do - run around and have fun doing it. This gives a whole new perspective to the typical slogan, "you have to keep an eye on your toddler AT ALL TIMES". I think that's just what childless people say. Of course I keep her close when we're outside and I keep household chemicals as far from her as possible because she can't read labels and can't sense the dangers involved but looking at her at all times is just ridiculous. At home, I let her run free until I get suspicious that she might be up to something. I'm talking about minutes here and I check on her immediately when she gets too quiet.

I'm getting awfully side-tracked, like I always do when I'm telling a story. But that all stuff was necessary to create the setting.

I was playing with Xbox and Siiri was free-roaming around the apartment. She drew a little bit, then took a toy from one room to another, then took a quick look if I've added anything fun to any of my drawers, closing them with a slam. All familiar sounds. Next she went to the master bedroom - the safest room in our apartment - and spent some time there. Then she came and rubbed and patted my hair. Then she ran off again. Cute! I kept playing and a moment later she was back. Again she came and rubbed her hands in my hair with great care, patted me and left. Mhh? I tried to make some dialog but she was too busy to notice. Then she did the same a third and a fourth time and ran back to the master bedroom. This time I put down the Xbox remote and followed her. She ran through the door straight to the closet. But in stead of playing with the clothes in the closet, she headed straight for the 2-inch/5cm crack between the closet and the wall. It's full of spider webs and dust. I never clean it because I'm arachnophobic and I won't even go near those spider webs. Siiri's not arachnophobic. She squeezed her hand into the dusty dirty crack, ("Siiri, no don't!") pulled it out and then rubbed her hands together to clean away all that dust. It wasn't very effective so she came to me and signaled me to get closer so she could reach my hair so she could rub her hands clean of all that dust and spiderwebs.

I should have known. Just a few weeks ago Siiri was eating (more like warming it up) some cheese and just wasn't happy with how greasy her hands felt. I gave her a paper towel. She rubbed her hands in it, put it aside and carefully looked at her hands. Then suddenly she demanded that I sit next to her RIGHT NOW. It seemed an odd request but I couldn't really ask her for any explanation so I sat with great curiosity. Siiri stepped up to me and patted me firmly from the top of the head to my shoulders, "Paaaaat!" (Estonian "Paaaaaai!", or "Aiiii" as she says it). Then she took another look at her hands, smiled, and hurried back to her toys.

Something I wanted to show you... Some of you will think, What the heck? and some of you will nod with understanding. Here's my Oblivion character:

Have a happy New Year's celebration and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Different Holidays

I don't think I've ever had a Christmas season like this before. I spent time in the lab during some weekend days, including the third advent Sunday. I had experiments, a verbal exam, text editing, graph touch-ups. I gave a scientific presentation in front of 50 something people, which I totally botched because my presentation was the last of the entire conference and I had built up so much tension that I couldn't even think straight anymore. My advisor later said not to worry about it, although "the people here will be paying you salary one day." Geee, thanks. Eventually I turned in a really long essay on the 21st and I could finally not worry about stuff. Until the 25th when I just had to go to the lab to save my plants from horrible torturous death by drought.

I wish all problems could be solved with watering. My computer, however, really wishes I don't try this in practice. Recently my monitor died. It started flickering and turned itself off a couple of times. Until one time it didn't turn on anymore. Me and Erkki had matching monitors before and now we got new matching monitors. That's when things really got weird. Erkki's monitor works like a charm but my monitor likes to surprise me with special effects. There I am just browsing and minding my own business when my monitor suddenly produces a mysterious light blue shadow. It appears to the right of every line of text, every dark area of a menu. It appears in the browser, in the image processing software, on the desktop and even on the start menu. It's everywhere! Then I open another browser window and it disappears, then I open a new tab it's there again. Then I open a third tab and suddenly the new tab looks clear but the rest of the screen still looks weird. I didn't even know this sort of problems were possible. I have tried uninstalling and re-installing video card drivers and I tried some sort of ATI tweaking tool. Now it's not as bad as before but the image is still corrupt whenever it feels like it.

Speaking of corrupt, one very influential Estonian politician Edgar Savisaar got caught asking money (1.5 million euros) from Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin. Savisaar is the kind of man that has no morals and who is as undemocratic as his power allows him. As the mayor of Estonia's capital Tallinn he uses city funding to publish his own propaganda newspaper and a TV channel. Not only is it dishonest to the taxpayer, but it's also totally creepy that he's getting away with it. Estonia's counterintelligence declassified their findings of secret fundings and now he's in a big scandal which might just be the end of his career. I'm afraid he'll just buy his way out with money, favors and outright lies (e.g. he announced he was working WITH Estonia's counterintelligence all along). Whatever happens in the future, Savisaar is certainly in a pickle now and this is one guy who's misfortune gives me much joy. Actually it's not even misfortune since he was the one who was going to sell out his power in Estonia out of his own free will. It's karma!

Good karma, bad karma. For Estonians and also for me, that's just a saying. People rarely believe in resurrection. We mostly believe that people collect their karma dept during their lifetime. Bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to... well, Estonians believe that good things only happen to BAD people. Anyone with any sort of financial comfort is a "crook, liar and a thief". So I suppose everyone in Estonia are bad people. That doesn't sound quite right. Nearly everyone I know are such good people...

Karma is nice though. I think I could easily be a Buddhist if they weren't such pacifists. And if they didn't meditate so much and if they didn't worship Buddha statues and if they didn't believe that rocks have souls and if they ate MEAT! Or perhaps I could be a Hindu - everything is allowed there if you find the right religious group. Except, again, I don't really believe in universal resurrection and that's not so negotiable. This religion thing really is tough. A few days ago I went to the bookstore to buy a good theory book about Spiritualism. You know what I found out? Surprise-surprise: Spiritualism is the religion of the Dumb. Spiritualism books are mostly in large print. They contain "wisdom" not much worse from TV-shop commercials for energizing bracelets. There was a book about haunted places - probably all just hoax and publicity for "haunted hotels". There were books about reading minds (along with instructions), reading palms, interpreting tarot cards, doing white magic, black magic, dowsing, etc. Even the most promising books about the spirit world ended up containing stupid self-help sort of advice for a cleaner spirit and quick tips to unleash your supernatural side.

That's not my kind of Spiritualism. My beliefs are pretty basic - there's a higher intelligence God, but it's not the sort of authority figure that in most religions. I mean, if God has ultimate power and ultimate wisdom, why would he micromanage everything people do. He already knows if those people are going to do the right thing and what would have to happen so that the right choices are guaranteed. The sort of micromanaging that organized religions enforce kind of defeat the purpose of free will. I also think people have souls and I think those souls persist even after the person dies. I don't know how long they persist, perhaps just a few hours before they become part of something else. I think there's a shared unconscious level where people communicate without words and I think it's even in places with no other people. That would explain why people get a vibe from other people as well as different places and also why people sometimes just know when they are being watched.

But maybe human mind is simply designed to imagine that there is something or someone out there that people can't explain. Someone who decides who's living a good life and who isn't, or who's naughty or nice. Someone who is all-knowing and remembers all the people individually. That sounds so familiar... Someone who is everywhere at the same time... Mhh... SANTA is god!!!!!! Someone should build the Church of Santa. Or is that what malls are for?

Candy in the Slipper

It's Christmas time and it is the time of glorious lies that parents tell their children. "Be a good kid and Santa will bring you nice gifts!". Not many parents really write down what their child does or doesn't do within an entire month. They mostly just use Santa as a tool of manipulation and then buy their children whatever presents they were going to buy anyway.

The same goes for elves - I mean Santa's Little Helpers, not Legolas and Arwen. In Estonia elves put candy in the slippers or stockings of good kids every night. In the morning children get up to go and see if they had been good kids. This is easier for the parents because they only need to judge behavior one day at a time.

Elves visit even Siiri's slipper. Every morning she finds one candy there. The first morning I was getting all enthusiastic, "Siiri-Siiri! Go see if elves brought you anything!". Siiri saw me pointing at the slipper but walked the other way. I followed her and took her back to the slipper. "What's inside here?". Siiri looked at me, looked at the slipper, felt that it really did have something inside and then got bored and walked the other way. Now the elves have consistently visited her slipper for over a week. Today, in the quiet haze of morning, I asked Siiri, "Siiri, go see if elves brought you anything." I had barely finished my question when Siiri ran to the slipper, pulled out the candy and started laughing maniacally as if she just struck gold. And -really cute- she took the candy, her most prized possession at that moment, and without hesitation handed it over to me so I could open it up and cut it into smaller pieces for her. So even if she does behave somewhat mischievously one day, how could I really have her find the slipper empty the following morning. She would be so sad and confused with her empty slipper. Conclusion: elves don't inspire cute kids to behave well.

I had another one of those religion themed seminars and at some point the lecturer said something like, "it is very hard for us Christians to find sense in some of the controversies in the Bible". I had two automatic thoughts about it. First, "it is very hard for you Christians indeed" and second, "well, if something proves time and time again to be full of controversies, then perhaps it's time to realize it's false.". I didn't comment anything about it but it seemed like a step forward. I did not feel any inner hesitation whispering that I belong with them. I have gotten used to the idea of not being a Christian. And I still believe in God, just not in church or the Bible.

By the way, you know you have spent too much time in a lab when 50 uL (that's an entire drop! )suddenly seems like a large amount of liquid. Or when, in the evening, you think about playing Oblivion but it seems too much strain on your hands after all that pipetting. I am still playing Oblivion. It's an old classic open world role-playing computer game that was adapted for Xbox. The game is kinda boring and tediously slow-paced, and leveling mechanism is a disaster. It is actually possible to level up into being much weaker than all the monsters. But there is a system: if you level up in the exact right way every time then it's possible to create a powerful Jack of all trades - master swordsman, master mage, master thief, master assassin - THE MASTER OF EVERYTHING in a stupid boring game.

When I heard how much effort some people go through to level up in this game, I thought it was totally pointless and I simply laughed at them. I myself started playing Oblivion only to get Xbox Achievement points and to pass some time. Pretty soon my game went very sour - my character was so weak and I started to understand the mechanism behind building an overpowered badass. I could not resist! I made a new character and I planned it right from the beginning. Now I'm over level 30 and I have 4 attributes maxed out. I constantly fall asleep while playing it and I'm not even all that interested in playing the game. I just want my character to be all-powerful. Soon (in Oblivion time) I will have 100 in all the attributes and then I will go get the achievements.

I'm gonna leave you with this:

iBad or iGood

I have some issues with my mp3-player. I had considered getting an mp3 player for years but never really managed to buy one. I spend a lot of time walking around humming a song in my head and sometimes it's not even any song that I like so I might as well really listen to music. Well, recently an mp3 player was "left over" so it was given to me. It's so big it doesn't fit into a pocket, almost no computer recognizes it so songs can't be added, and it has a playlist function where songs can't be rearranged, deleted or added. If you didn't already guess, I'm talking about my iPod Touch.

It looks good, and it can be used as an instant Google device but it's without 3G so it only works in wireless Internet areas. The issues I have with iPod are so big that they almost make it worthy of a dumpster if it wasn't so expensive. First of all, what annoys me the most is that it has nearly zero connectivity to any other device. It has plenty of space on it but it can't be used as a memory stick because no computer recognizes it. Imagine an mp3 player which doesn't allow songs to be added... Okay, for the sake of fairness, it connects to Erkki's computer but even there it can take an hour or more to simply upload one song, and the procedure is so complicated that I've only managed to do it once (actually I watched and pointed at a folder and Erkki did all the impossible technical stuff). There's also Dropbox program but I'm still testing if it's useful to me. Theoretically iTunes is supposed to be used for adding songs to this impossibly annoying but pretty device but Apple is like a stupid American hippie, "Ummm... Estooonia... is that a country?" so iTunes doesn't work here.

Another problem are the playlists. With this much processing power, I'd expect iPod to have a really good program for listening to songs but it doesn't even come close to the ancient lightweight freeware Winamp. For one, iPod has nonfunctional playlists function, which is the only reason to make an mp3 player that big in the first place. I have very humble expectations for this level of technology - I would like to create new playlists, add songs, put songs in specific order, see information about the songs, remove songs or even delete completely, make another playlist, and perhaps I'd also like to easily make a third playlist that includes songs from the first two playlists. That's not much to ask for, is it? But noooooooo... The technological wonder allows me to make one on-the-go playlist and for that I have to add all songs manually while not being able to hear the songs I'm adding, then I get to delete the songs I don't like - one by one. I would MAYBE do it if I could have several playlists for different kinds of music, but currently I just listen to all my songs in random order and cringe and reach for iPod every time I get one of the children's songs I added for Siiri's sake. Theoretically I could "sync" it to Erkki's computer and then figure out how to make proper Apple playlists there but I'm really reluctant to make so much effort for something that ought to take a few minutes with working software. There must be an Application for this, why didn't I think of it sooner?

Anyway, I have a love-hate relationship with my iPod. I love it when I need to kill some time in a place with decent wireless network and I've realized I love listening to songs while I walk, but I have learned to hate some fundamental things about Apple's approach.

And that is why I have truly mixed feelings about the coolest popular gadget in human history - iPad. At last there is a simple device for reading electronic books, surfing the net, watching video clips, listening to music, playing games and it has a touch screen. How cool is that! It looks good, it works well and it's the best buy we've had in the last years. The last time any piece of technology changed our lives so much was when we upgraded from an old flickering CRT television to a 37' widescreen HD-ready LCD. I feel warm and fuzzy just thinking about the first couple of weeks. With iPad the change came more slowly - as we constantly find new uses for it, the demand for it increases. It rarely sits idly and even Siiri is very proficient at using it, especially for being an illiterate 1,5 year old. She can turn it on, open and close applications, put on music, select songs, change volume, finger paint, find images, scroll and zoom images and apparently delete Erkki's entire eBook collection. Fortunately Erkki had all the books backed up but it did take some time to restore them to iPad.

In the evenings me and Erkki read our seperate books. Erkki reads from iPad and I read whatever I can get my hands on, but sometimes I'd like to read a computer document and then we have too few iPads. It would also be very convenient to be able to claim a tablet computer as my very own and use it during lectures. I couldn't let other people casually play around with it if I have important files there so it would be best to claim it as a personal tool. It could also be useful for viewing my work-related Excel charts and showing them the my supervisor without printing anything out. Erkki himself has said that we need another iPad and he is right, but (and it's a HUGE "but") I'm not willing to give any more money to a company with such control issues. It's none of Apple's damn business which computer I connect MY gadget to. I won't buy a pretty toy which doesn't even have a file browser. Maybe I'm old-fashioned when it comes to file management but removing access to files in iPad and iPod has effectively reduced their usefulness by 50% in my opinion. I always thought Apple is user-friendly but after the first hour of getting used to the system, PC beats Apple gadgets in usability.

Now I'm eagerly looking for iPad alternatives and I've read several news articles of developments in that area. There is one that I'm really looking forward to: Notion Ink Adam Tablet PC. It's coming out in December and I'm so excited about it. Its screen is slightly bigger with better resolution compared to iPad, it is claimed to have BETTER battery life (up to 2x-3x longer), it's thinner, with touch screen and it has 3 USB ports!!! It even has a file manager... There must be some catch, aside from not running on Windows 7, and I want to know what it is. I won't buy it until I've read some decent user reviews how it performs in everyday use.

Anyone planning to buy an iPad - go ahead, it really is an extraordinary device.

Decision Made

Regarding my chance to go to Spain (see previous post), I've reached a decision. I'm not going. I kept making up new reasons why I should or should not go. I had several concerns. I was afraid I might pass up on a wonderful opportunity because of fear that I could end up homesick in a foreign country. I was afraid that Siiri will stop trusting me - currently she gladly waves goodbye when I leave home because she trusts that I will come back at the end of the day. If I go away for a month I could shatter that trust and not regain it for a long time, or never. I was afraid such travels will get increasingly difficult to organize if I have more children and then I'll regret it later. I felt guilty that so many people would have to make extra effort for my sake because I'm not around to decide Siiri's food, bathing, clothing, etc. Erkki wouldn't be able to have an active social life if he has to get someone to keep an eye on Siiri every time. Currently we mostly take turns for late night events.

I kept jumping for one reason to another while none of them were convincing enough to make a decision based on that. Then I thought, what if it was reversed? What if Erkki came home one day and said, "I have a job opportunity to spend a month in Spain. I would learn new things, but if I don't go, then I will be able to learn them later from whoever goes in stead. My career doesn't depend on it. It would make little difference on my CV. I don't have to go... but... It would be fun! Sure you'll have to take care of Siiri, and I'll THINK of you guys. But imagine, I could have my lunch under a palm tree, I could party with people I don't even know yet, I could spend time in Spain surrounded by warm and friendly people. I bet I would have a great time!". I thought about it and I was immediately convinced I would consider him selfish if he proposed something like this. I thought, what do you mean you want to spend a month apart? And I'd do all the hard work while you're enjoying yourself? I couldn't realistically imagine him asking something so selfish from me. I realized he would probably have said no without even considering it for more than a few minutes. He might have thought, "I can't do that to Kristiina. It's not fair.". And that's when I decided it would be fun to go, but it would be unfair to Erkki and Siiri and even to the nanny and Siiri's grandparents for expecting then to make extra effort while I'm in sunny Spain.

Actually if Erkki had a chance like this, I wouldn't tell him not to go because all of us have only one life and chances like this shouldn't be passed for little reason.

I'm sure I'll have many chances to regret it but there is one thing to remember: I travel a lot. While many people only go abroad a couple of times during their life, I've been to England, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Egypt and USA in the last few years and during my entire life, I've visited almost all European countries, plus USA and Egypt. There is no way that I will suddenly stop traveling and I shouldn't feel sad that I missed one trip. Perhaps I'll go to Spain in 10 years with Siiri and I'll even visit the countryside instead of living in a big city for a whole month without a car or a driver's licence.

Tough Decision

Today my boss came to my desk and asked enthusiastically, "Would you like to go to Spain?". My first thought - WOOOHOOOOOO!!!! WIN! It's a scientific project to study a method and to do experiments. Certainly no easy task and it can't really be done in a hurry. Now here's the catch: it would last a month.

What's a month, really? It's just 30 days of blogging daily and having as much fun as possible so that I have something to blog about. That really is a good way to make sure I spend every day to it's fullest. I learned that when I went to San Diego two years ago for 6 weeks just before Christmas ( my San Diego travelogue); I barely made it back for Christmas Eve. It was just so cool. It was the best trip I've ever had and it was an experience that I remember very fondly. San Diego is an amazing place and I've never seen another place like it. Most similar is Los Angeles which I also visited when I was staying in San Diego.

Erkki will be okay, I'm sure. He'd have both xBox and iPad all to himself. He'd miss me and I'd miss him but one month just comes and goes. I have his support, either I decide to go or not, even though I'm sure he's really hoping that I stay.

But it's Spain! S P A I N! It's not like my supervisor is trying to send me to Lapland in the middle of winter. I'd be going to a warm place with palm trees.

I got the suggestion today (Friday) and I have to decide by Monday. I was quite confused with all my options and pluses and minuses and then I arrived home after being away for 8 hours. As I unlocked the door with my keys, I already heard a gleeful shriek from the apartment. I opened the door and Siiri was running towards me, her smile as wide as her face. She had abandoned all her toys the moment she heard me unlocking the door. I greeted her with hugs and felt sorrow.

Now I just don't know. I have a couple more days to decide. I'm sure I could work out the technicalities so that someone takes care of Siiri. It actually made me feel good about my importance when I realized that it would require a lot of extra effort from 4 people if I decide to go. Sadly, none of those people will replace "mommy" for Siiri. One moment I'm thinking, "I shouldn't go! Think how sad Siiri would otherwise be!" and an hour later I think "Of course I should go! If I have more children, such travels will be even harder if I have more sad children at home waiting for me.". I'm just bouncing between my options.

Of course I would miss Siiri and Erkki both. I'd talk with them on web cam as if everything is peachy and then go to sleep feeling very lonely and sad. But I'd also see wonderful new things, I'd meet new people, I'd experience completely new things. It would be an experience that makes my life more real, and myself more alive in it. It's a chance that I shouldn't pass up. My head is about to explode. ...I'll let you know what I decide.

I tried to finish up some important things in the lab but everything got tangled again and it still needs more work. I've been feeling spectacularly demotivated by it. I even took a couple of days off to spend with Siiri and found that we're both happier if I also work. I don't think the positive effect would be greater if I stay away for a whole month in stead of 8 hours.

Teaching Social Skills

I was talking with the father of three wonderful children, and I boasted how Siiri can recognize all the letters of the alphabet! Really! At 1 year and 5 months she immediately points to the correct capital letter when I ask her, "where is E?". She only mixes up letters when she's distracted by something and that doesn't happen often - she is occasionally more focused than I am. She is absolutely unnaturally focused for a kid her age. I would be worried if she sometimes didn't have completely excited and playful moods as well.

So I told about Siiri's wonderful skill to that father and he got quiet. He contemplated whether to say anything about it but then told me in a slightly concerned way that it is not necessary to educate children so much. He is actually right. Lately there has been much talk about Lost Childhood - children are no longer allowed to simply behave like children. They are constantly prepared for something, whether it's kindergarten, school, or university. Some Estonian children who go to kindergarten have already been tutored in English language to give them an advantage in life. Their parents are so eager to make them into something that they never allow them to simply be kids. He casually added that preschool children gain more from education of character (e.g. role-playing) than from the kind of education that school is meant for. I quickly reassured him that Siiri is genuinely interested in such knowledge and no wrong has been done. Learning the letters was simply a logical next step to learning different animals from books. Siiri pointed at things, whether dogs or cats or different letters, and grown-ups told her what she was pointing at, and later asked her to point to the correct picture, giving her an opportunity to show off her new knowledge. But it still got me thinking that role-playing is a wonderful idea. The following day I went to the store and bought a couple of glove puppets - Hedgehog and Monkey.

For most of my closest friends, when I say role-playing, they think: GOBLINS , magical armor, DRAGONS, priests kicking ass and vanquishing evil, damsels in distress, LOOT! For children less than three years old, it's something quite different. There's puppets and dolls, make-belief scenarios being played out and later Spiderman costumes and pretending a mere twig found from under a tree is a lazer gun. I haven't done much puppet theatre to Siiri but recently she has started to show readiness for such games. Namely she often offers snacks to her dolls and stuffed animals. One time she took a small toy cow and dipped it head-first into a bowl of snacks and made content sounds as if the cow was enjoying the meal. Another time she took the hand of a Barbie-like doll, submerged it into a bowl of snacks and pulled it out with a snack between her finger and doll's hand, or in this context, with the doll holding the snack and then feeding it to Siiri.

Role-playing for children can be quite educative because it can give them experiences that they hadn't yet gotten from real life. Lately I've been especially concerned with Siiri's paralyzing fear of other young children, perhaps because of some earlier experiences with loud children running and screaming like lunatics (something Siiri sometimes does herself ). So I got a wonderful idea . I should role-play positive social situations to Siiri so she's better prepared for when she makes her first attempts at being social with other kids. It's not absurd in any way. Role-playing is frequently used for improving social skills and it is one of the best methods for this goal, possibly second best after real experience.

My first puppet-lesson to Siiri was Sharing. As an only child, Siiri rarely has to share with anyone else and she is very unaccustomed to it, so I decided to show her how sharing works. Siiri brought Monkey a snack and Monkey happily ate it. But then phlegmatic Hedgehog came along and said, "Monkey, you have a snack. I don't have a snack, but I would also like to eat it". So Monkey said, "Hedgehog, lets share!" and they both started munching on the snack. Siiri looked at it with confusion and then with disapproval. She made an agitated sound, came and took back the snack and cave it back to Monkey. I snickered and continued with the lesson. Again came the Hedgehog, "I no longer have a snack. Could I have some, too?". Happy and energetic Monkey said, "Come! I have plenty, I can share with you!" and they both started eating the same snack. Siiri was not pleased! She came, took back the snack, pushed Monkey further from Hedgehog, gave Monkey the snack, and kept a close eye on Hedgehog. Of course Hedgehog came along and acted all hungry. Monkey proposed, "Lets split it!". I carefully made the small puffy snack into two halves and put one in front of Monkey and the other in front of Hedgehog and made munching sounds. That seemed like the perfect solution until Siiri came, took away hedgehog's half a snack, gave Hedgehog a mean look and ATE IT!

All is well that ends well. Siiri got to use her imagination to solve a recurring problem and I got a good laugh out of it. Everyone wins. Except for the Hedgehog.

PS! Siiri currently has at least 16 actively used phrases or words. There are so many that she has forgotten, but I'm not counting those. She can follow simple commands, such as, "Siiri, please put the rabbit in your cupboard". I don't point to either the rabbit or the cupboard but she does it anyway. She understands most of every-day talk. Perhaps I should have taken it into account when I was reading some child developmental stuff out loud to Erkki. "They say Children Siiri's age should already be drinking from a cup. We assist Siiri, but do they mean she should be able to do it without any assistance? They can't possibly mean that.". The entire next day Siiri demanded to hold the cup herself and by nightfall had learned to drink from a cup unassisted.