The Ice Cream Ritual

On recent warm days, I would prepare ice cream cones for Bella and me. Then I set out a couple of chairs on the deck overlooking the pond and we put on baseball caps to shade our eyes. 

Bella, Jeff, and I took a sunny walk, and when we returned she asked for an ice cream cone. While I was preparing the cones, she informed Jeff which chairs should be set out on the deck. As there were three of us, she instructed Jeff to find a chair for himself.

She periodically checked for ducks in the pond while we read a fun book. Bella loves buses so we read Axle Annie and the Speed Grump, about a valiant, brave, and level-headed bus driver who saves the speed grump despite his terrible driving behavior.

It's interesting how we inadvertently create rituals or routines that have meaning and value to others. In Bella's mind, certain things needed to happen in preparation to eat our ice cream.