Catching cooties...

One of the activities L & I worked on this week was creating cootie catchers. I have no idea why they are called 'cootie catchers'. I remembered loving these as a child at that age, and I thought she too would enjoy them. She caught on really quickly, and made three of them—all with different ‘fortunes’ or predictions. Ivan even stars in one fortune. She then decided it would be cool to nest them, stacking all three of them and using them that way. I’m glad we did those together. We had a lot of fun, even though I had to keep picking colors/numbers/animals over and over and over, for hours on end! I so enjoy sharing things from my childhood with her—especially when she really likes it.

Her predictions really give some insight as to how her little mind works these days. Here are all of them from her three creations, exactly as she has written them. My commentary/explanations are in parenthesis.

Cootie Catcher #1 predictions:
1. You will be a doctor for ugly people
2. I will make sure you wear a baby diaper! Ha ha
3. This is my year. Where does that leave you? DEAD! (with a picture of a smiling girl drawn next to it.)
4. What do dogs think? “Someday they will leave the gate open!”
5. Follow this map (map drawn, with an X marking the spot) Now be quiet (written next to the X)
6. I’m a queen so you’re a peasant now!
7. Fly away. Of course you have wings. Pull your ears wide.
8. Go jump in a lake and you will turn into a frog!

Cootie Catcher #2 predictions:
1. You will have a winning streak!
2. I van my cat will make you suffer!
3. You will have bad luck. Ha ha
4. A tiger will take you to the jungle today!
5. You will be bitten by a crazy monkey.
6. You will own a cat.
7. You’re going to turn into a fairy.
8. You will get a heart, so try to be nice.

Cootie Catcher #3 predictions:
1. You wanna know the meaning of life? You were put here so live here!
2. You’re going to have bad luck today!
3. You will find a penny, pick it up, and all day you’ll have a mousetrap stuck on your butt.
4. You want my advice? Shut up, listen, and stand still. I’m gonna knock your block off. (she picks up such lovely things from Charlie Brown)
5. You will have to think it through. That shows how you have no brains, so go away hollow head!
6. Go jump in that pool. Oh noooooooooo, those are not sharks. Those are plastic fins.
7. You’re going to have luck today.
8. You will marry a monkey! LOL

The funny thing is, while I clearly remember making and using these things quite often, I have no recollection of anything I wrote inside. I’m sure none of it was as unique and interesting as her items! I can’t even come up with one thing I might possibly have written in a cootie catcher. It’s a complete blank. It’s maddening! Stuff like that makes me very irritated with my brain, which seems to just randomly pick and choose little snippets of life to remember. That’s one of so many reasons I have stuck with blogging. I have many memories, but many more ‘blanks’ from my childhood. Maybe my kids will look back and want to fill in the blanks, maybe they won’t, but the information is there and easily accessible to them if they do want to know more about the day-to-day moments that made up their lives.