Freya has recently started copying everything I do, and has been helping me with the household and garden chores. She has been dusting, sweeping, and ‘tidying’ things away, and is often seen charging purposefully around the house with the dustpan and brush.

Freya spent yesterday morning following me around the garden, pushing her Wheely Bug backwards and forwards, stopping and kicking it every so often, mumbling under her breath, sighing, and mimicking me exactly – the only difference was, I was mowing the grass.

My darling daughter has also started taking great joy in loading up the washing machine with any item of clothing she can lay her little mitts on. She scours the house in pursuit of washable articles and once she has exhausted all options - including swiping the wet clothes off the clothes horse, or trying to remove the clothes that I am actually wearing - and then resorts to non-washable items (eg the car keys, my purse, stones from the garden etc), she then self-satisfyingly closes the machine door, turns some knobs and then gives herself a clap. It has to be said, I sometimes give myself a clap too – on the rare occasions I manage to collect up all the dirty laundry and actually get it in the machine and turn it on.

In light of this domesticity that Freya has been demonstrating, I thought she might like a doll to play with. So yesterday afternoon I presented her with Cupcake – the doll, and they have been inseparable ever since. This doll is in by far a more privileged position than me, and even Joe, and has been treated by Freya with the utmost respect and affection at all times. She hasn’t tried to poke her eyes out, yank her hair, bite her, or yell at her… instead she has gently rocked her, patted her back soothingly, sang to her beautifully and even, and it pains me to say it, kissed her. Freya has so far refused point blank to give her doting and adoring mummy and daddy one single kiss. 



Cupcake is so adored by Freya, I thought I might try to use this to my advantage. So, I have been pretending to brush the dolls teeth, feed her vegetables, and change her nappy, in the hope that this would encourage Freya to put an end to her tireless embargo of these things. However, this little trick of mine has backfired, and now if Freya doesn’t want to do something, she thinks she is off the hook by asking me to get Cupcake to do it instead. Therefore, she is cunningly using this copying game to her advantage.