_{April 2024}

Last weekend, Elisa arrived and announced:

“I’m a snail. My names Hermine!” (pron. Hermina). “Look how slowly I can move!” Then she proceeded at such a slow pace it was hard to tell that she was moving at all.

It transpired that Hermine is a character from a story book which is being read in kindergarten. Once this was clarified, she was forgotten.

I was relieved, as I had been struggling to keep up with her many personae during the past few weekends and was not ready to take on another just yet.

“I’m not Elisa”, she would announce. “I’m Julia (pronounced ‘Loolia’) /Jolene/Sophia.”

I like this version of ‘Julia’.

‘Loolia’ rolls smoothly off the tongue. It reminds me of the time one of my sons was in love with a girl called ‘Julia’ in primary school. He also pronounced her name, ‘Loolia’. His older brother wrote a poem for him to give her (here translated from German):

Dear Loolia

You’re in the second schoolia

You’ve got rosy cheeks

And you’re not at all fat!

Fortunately, the poem was never delivered.

Anyway …

Three weeks ago, when all this started, I was in the kitchen attempting to make natural lipstick. Loolia was in the adjacent dining room creating delicious pastries with the playdough we had made.

She would come in and out through the open doorway, presenting me with her offerings. At one point she came in wearing a piece of pink fabric on her head and a tea towel placed around her neck.

“Hello”, she said. “I’m an old Oma and I’ve got nowhere to stay. Can I spend the night with you?”

“Of course!” I replied. She thanked me and left the room.

Shortly afterwards she returned, still wearing her Oma garb, announcing that she wasn’t Loolia but Jolene, and had I seen the old Oma anywhere?

I told her I hadn’t, ignoring the fact that the Oma was standing right in front of me, and that was the end of that.

“I’m seven”, she informed me. “I’m still not Loolia, I’m Jolene and I’m seven.”  A few minutes later she told me that she would be eleven the next day.

I was getting a little confused by now but did my best to note the various names and ages. The Oma was easy. She was just old and had anyway left the scene.

Later we went for a walk accompanied by the girls. Jolene kept up with us, but we had to wait repeatedly for Julia and Sophia. Julia was only five. I can’t remember how old Sophia was, but I did note that she was a princess.

Back home, I put the kettle on for tea. Loolia came into the kitchen and told me that she had played with Miu (my recently deceased cat) and given him something to eat. I thanked her.

For the rest of her stay, she continued to switch between characters and ages. This lessened somewhat during the following visits, but she still occasionally informs us that she is not Loolia, but Sophia/Jolene/Julia, and that she is anywhere from seven to eleven years old.