At her last checkup, Ingrid found out that she has a cavity again. She’s taking tooth-brushing extra seriously now.

Ingrid has suddenly started reading more actual books, not just Kalle Anka pocket. We went to a bookstore and bought a bunch of books together during Christmas break, and now she’s reading them and almost every one is “best book ever!”. The books she chose were all fantasy and (mild) horror stories. Current favourites: Rum 213 by Ingelin Angerborn, Stjärnstenen by Jo Salmson.

Normally I read for her at bedtime. Today for the first time ever Ingrid got so deep into a book in the evening that we missed our story time. She just couldn’t put the book down.

Otherwise it’s the usual digital entertainments: games, YouTube, etc. Current favourite game: The Sims 4.

She worries. She is more and more aware that she is growing up, and isn’t quite happy about it. She tells me she’d rather stay a child and relive her childhood years. She worries about ageing and dying, and about having to decide on a career, and having to choose a university, and getting into university, and having to move away from home. She sees adulthood at the horizon and is anxious about her ability to manage it. I guess it all looks like a burden from where she’s standing.

She is really sensitive to negative events and others’ negative opinions. They drag her down, and she has a hard time getting past them. A disappointment in the morning can set the tone and ruin a whole day. Even when it’s Adrian saying something slightly negative, she’s hurt – and he’s just a six-year-old. When he hugs her good-bye, for example, he finishes by pushing her off and saying “go now!” – and she takes that as rejection.

I guess she is unsure of her place in the world, and of her value. She doesn’t show it much of the time but that low self-esteem seems to be there under the surface.

I put the camera on a tripod in the living room. I was sort of hoping for some group portraits, but the kids were not in the mood for anything like that.

A break for a hot drink while we’re out skating.

We went for a walk.

Yes, yes, we did Christmas as well… but I felt that we also needed to move our legs and get some fresh air.

I am not very excited by Christmas any more. It’s mostly yet another chore.

I’ve never quite seen the point of teaching kids to believe in Santa Claus. The “It’s a tradition” argument doesn’t fly with me. “Everybody else does it” is also not a valid argument. “It makes kids be good” is the worst of them all – if the only way you can teach good behaviour to your kids is by lying, then maybe you have problems…

So the kids are fully aware that Christmas gifts are from people to people, and fully involved in the whole project. They buy or make gifts of their own, and they help choose gifts for each other. (Ingrid is markedly better than me at predicting what Adrian will enjoy.)

And wrapping all the gifts is a big, messy, fun project of its own, that we also do together.

Ingrid lighting the candles for a Christmas dinner with her friend M.

A trilogy in red, and I took these photos on three different days…

Likes:

• Christmas, and preparing for it. Ingrid’s mind is full of Christmas thoughts, and many days she wears a red top or a Santa hat. She makes Christmas gifts, counts days, opens her advent calendar package first thing every morning, makes plans for a Christmas dinner with her best friend, etc.
• Online IQ tests, brain teasers and puzzle videos.
• Computer games – Little things, Fireboy and Watergirl, Pokemon Go, slither.io
• Macaroni and ketchup. Soft-boiled eggs. Yougurt and oat crisps. Clementines.
• Bedtime stories. Currently Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Eric, and I just finished reading Nõianeiu Nöbinina.
• Long hot showers.

Does not like:

• Picking up after her. Stuff accumulates on all surfaces in her room; she leaves a trail of stuff behind her in every room. Then suddenly she gets a burst of inspiration and spends half an hour putting her room in order and it looks immaculate.
• Waiting. Which means that when given a choice, she’s always last minute to every activity and appointment, and everybody else has to wait for her.

Ingrid, with “Santa’s helper’ plaits”.