Every so often, whether it's to get her out of my hair or to occupy her when we're waiting in line for something and I'd rather not deal with the constant, "Mom look. Momma. Mom. Mommommommommommommommommom," that The Dormouse inevitably needs to repeat to draw attention to herself and I don't want to deal with the judgmental looks from others when I eventually snap and yell, "FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, WHAAAAAAAAAT?", I set my camera on auto mode, put the strap around her neck and tell her to go take some pictures. (Hey, that whole paragraph was one sentence, are you impressed?)

The other day, she was home from school - which, since kindergarten started has become a fate worse than death for us. She has trouble adjusting to the low key, unstructured schedule of the day; I'm either working or busy with the baby much of the time and she doesn't know what to do with herself. If I don't want her watching television all day so her alternative is to bug me until I either turn into a raging bitch and yell at her for talking or I finally get off my large behind and find something for her to do. This day I let her go outside to play in the yard and she came back in hollering excitedly, "Mom! I need the camera, I've just got to take a picture of this..."

So I gave her my camera and let her go outside. She came back with these photos. I think it's always interesting to see what catches her eye and of what a five year old thinks is important enough to take a photo. It also amuses me to see her try and mimic what she's seen me photograph or at least what she thinks I would photograph. It's a very telling experience and gives me a little glimpse into her mind which I love, but also I'm often surprised by her photographic eye.