Jane what’s your favorite…

Color – Pink!

Animal – Monkey

Food – “Like can you say vegetable or fruit?” ( sure…)

Vegetable -Potatoes (Botanically speaking anyway)

Fruit – Banana (Sorry Jane, no bananas in the house, I hate them!)

Clothes – Fashion star! Is that a kind of clothes? … hmmm…This kind!!! (and then she shows off her sparkly toed shoes with her sparkly pink tutu ballerina outfit).

Dog – “Jessie’s!  Jasper!  No not Jasper.  Radar!  If I go by Radar he actually doesn’t bite anymore.” (Jessie is my friend who has three dogs we watch often. Jasper is the smallest of the group and while they used to be good friends, I’m not sure Jasper has held still long enough for Jane to pet him in months. Radar is my Dad’s new puppy that might be part alligator but for sure has had Jane unwilling to go in or out of the house in her efforts to stay away from the puppy. It’s possible she forgot the meaning of the word favorite here).

Cat – Fiona  (Fiona was our old cat that the other kids “gave” to Jane, Jane did admit that Cassie is her favorite cat that is still alive.)

Person – Mom ( With her finger literally on my nose, it’s nice to be loved right?)

Thing to do –  Watch videos

Thing to do inside – Watch videos

Chore – Cleaning rooms (While she never is willing to help clean up her and her sisters’ room she did today because she was bribed with the previously mentioned videos.)

Time of day – My birthday! Me: “No time of day not actual day.” Jane:  “My birthday!” Me: (Explains what a time of day is.) Jane: “Summer! Turtle and floaties!” Me:”No, TIME of day!” Jane: “Morning!” Me: “Why?” Jane: “Just because I can do chores so I can watch videos.” (Wow… all that and we returned to video watching…)

Place to go –Lake Ripley

Song – SNOW GLOWS WHITE ON THE MOUNTAIN TONIGHT (Let It Go from Frozen for those of you who don’t live with a child obsessed with Elsa, ice powers and a healthy set of lungs.)

Flower –  Probably the scillas.  Like- snow drops first… and then scilla.

Farm Animal – Horse

Thing about your sisters being in school – Because I get to play with their stuff. (As if we didn’t all see that one coming.)

Friend – Nobody. (tiny sad voice) Except liberty is my only friend. (fake tears)  (She has other friends. I promise I don’t keep her in a box, we keep her on something more like a stage, drama queen that she is.)

Movie –Xiolin Showdown

Thing to do with Clara – Nofin, I don’t want to do anything with her. (Ouch. The next day she would only sit by her at dinner though, nothing permanent there.)

Thing to do with Ivy – Play LEGOs!

Thing to do with Dad – Tricky dad! Trick dad! (Don’t ask me, I’m just asking the questions here!)

Thing to do with Me – Trick you!

Book – Princesses (sings) Elsa (sings) Me: “Do we have one?” Jane: “No.” Me:” Have we read one?” Jane: “No.” Me: “How can it be your favorite then.” Jane: ” Just because I like it.” (Clearly.)

Meal – Macaroni and cheese

Thing to do in the car – (GIANT SIGH) Wait. (Again, possibly we needed to go over what favorite actual means.)

What do you want to do when you grown up?  -Be a rock star “Sing it girl!” (I… I… Possibly she was switched by the fairies? …)

What kind of problems do you want to help solve when you grow up?  – Mystery (whispers) You lost something and you can’t find it anywhere and it’s invisible! Me: “You can find those?” Jane: “No, not really, you have to feel them out.”  (As she pantomimes feeling invisible things and I wonder if her logic is irrefutable or perhaps she really was switched by the fairies.)

Anything else? – Yes. One clue, come on. (wander…wander… distract…distract) Making cards for Liberty! And going to the zoo. Only one more. Being at Grandma Pat’s house, because sock world…what it is called? Monkey Joes!!!

Here are some links if you’d like to take a look back at Jane’s answers over the last few years. Though I can tell you while the answers have changed, her unwillingness to give a useful answer the majority of the time has not!

Jane’s Favorites at Three Years Old

Jane’s Favorites at Two Years Old

and

A Study to Determine Jane’s Favorite Items at the age of 15 months

Clara what’s your favorite…

Color –  Blue

Animal – “Like bees? Are you going to ask me about bugs? … Yeah? Then cats are my favorite animal.”

Bug- Bees!!! (Who would have guess it?)

Food – Pizza

Clothes –  “I don’t really know, fancy clothes?” Me: “Are they your favorite?” Clara:  “No, Lola’s.”  (Much discussion followed and I discovered that Lola’s fancy clothes are Clara’s favorite clothes to wear.)

Dog – Trip and Rosie

Cat – “It used to be Fiona but now it’s Gypsy.” (Poor Fiona has been gone for just over a year now.)

Person – You and Dad

Thing to do – Play at the waterpark when I go to Wisconsin Dells with Lola. ( You might not know this yet, but everything eventually comes back to her best friend Lola. Everything.)

Thing to do inside – Play with cats.

Chore – Baby ducks and baby geese. Me: “How come.” Clara: “That they are fuzzy.” (Can’t argue, fuzzy baby birds are the best.)

Time of day – The afternoon. Me: “How come?” Clara: “Because you don’t have to do chores and you don’t have to eat dinner.” Me: “You don’t like eating dinner?” Clara: “Yeah, it’s weird I like lunch more cause I usually have tiny lunches.” (It’s good she has a reason… right?)

Place to go – Wisconsin Dells with Lola.

Song – My songs know what you did in the dark – Fall Out Boys

Flower – I don’t know. But my least favorite kind of flower is thistles. (And see there is an answer to a question I never even thought to ask!)

Farm Animal – Horses. Or bunnies. Do you know what my favorite kind of horse is? Me:  “No.” Clara: “The kind that, um, um, I might have… One of these, I don’t remember what kind I think it’s a tinker.” (So the question is, Clara, do you know your favorite kind of horse?)

Thing about school – You don’t have to do chores.

Friend – Lola (Surprise!)

Movie – Bernstein Bears (that’s a movie?) but at school my favorite video is Olivia.

Thing to do with Ivy – Play fairy gardens.

Thing to do with Jane – Play dress up.

Thing to do with Dad – Help him coil up the rope. (Old wire fence, fun right? Right…)

Thing to do with Me – Gardening

Book – Bees. The one where you can see the mite close up on a bee. (Because she knows her bees and her bee parasites!)

Meal – Dinner (Wait, I thought diner was weird?)

Thing to do in the car – Color

What do you want to do when you grown up? You know… be a bee keeper! (It’s true, I did know.)

Anything else? –

Bookmark- Bee bookmark

Tree- Apple

Favorite kind of apple – Golden Delicious

“Oh for flowers I remembered what it was. Petunia. NO apple blossom.”

LEGOS- Elf

(Good thing I asked!)

Looking back:

Clara’s Favorites at Five Years Old

Clara’s Favorites at Four Years Old

Clara’s Favorites at Three Years Old

Clara’s Favorites at Two Years Old

Once a year I like to interview my children to find out what all of their favorite things are. It has never failed to be informative, surprising and amusing.

Ivy, what’s your favorite…

Color – Blue (Which Clara objects to because blue has always been her color, and so either because Ivy is so nice to her sister [unlikely] or doesn’t actually like blue best [much more likely] she never chooses blue anything).

Animal – Horses

Food – Tortellini casserole (Even when it has green stuff in it!)

Clothes – Dresses

Dog – Penny (A whippet owned by one of the summer cottage renters at my parents’. She seems nice but I’m offended on behalf of my dog just on principle.)

Cat – Cassie (Cassie loves her best too.)

Person – You and Dad

Thing to do – Read

Thing to do inside – Play with LEGOs (Oh so true, it’s LEGO mania around here lately. Have I showed you my new favorite mini fig?)

Chore – “I don’t have a favorite chore.” *giggles* “That’s funny why would I have a favorite chore?” (insert mom sigh)

Time of day – Ivy: “Bedtime.” Me: “What? why?” (Because bedtime sure doesn’t seem like anything anyone around here loves.) Ivy: “Because I like laying down, it’s fun.”  (Okaaay…)

Place to go – Florida

Song – Lady Gaga (She couldn’t pick just one, and her love of Lady Gaga is all John’s influence, just so you know.)

Flower – Lilac

Farm Animal – Horses

Thing about school – Reading

Friend – Natalie and Hija

Movie – I don’t remember, I mean I remember, but I’m trying to think about it.. Can we come back to this one? … Secretariat, I can’t think of it so I’ll just say Secretariat – oh wait, it’s Enchanted.  I love that movie!

Thing to do with Clara – Rolling around. Messing around. Messing around with pillows and blankets and sometimes mattresses. (I hate that plan, it involves mattresses pulled off beds and lost blankets and despite anyone’,s best intentions, it’s never fixed before bedtime!)

Thing to do with Jane – Dress up, she’s the one that loves dress up. (I found this answer hilarious for reasons I can’t quite articulate.)

Thing to do with Dad – Checkers (She’ll be able to beat me regularly soon.)

Thing to do with Me – Just hang out with you. Probably working out… sometimes… (Yeah, I’m not always a fun mom…)

Book – Rainbow Magic (This is where I repeat: I’m glad she likes to read, it doesn’t matter what she’s reading I’m just glad she likes to read. I’m glad she likes to read, it doesn’t matter…)

Meal – Dinner

Thing to do in the car – Read

What do you want to do when you grown up? –  Marine biologist, … Studying sea turtles, I love sea turtles, maybe leafy sea dragons. (That’s excellent because I always wanted to know more about leafy sea dragons!)

When you get older what kind of problems to you want to help solve? – Bullying (Hint: Start with your behavior toward your sisters!)

Anything else? – I love the ocean. (Poor Midwestern child, that ocean is so very far away!)

Looking back:

Ivy’s Favorites at Eight Years Old

Ivy’s Favorites at Seven Years Old

Ivy’s Favorites at Six Years Old

Ivy’s Favorites at Five Years Old

Ivy’s Favorite Things