I was feeling pretty good about Bright Eyes this morning, especially after we had this conversation:

Max (his brother): Mum, can you wear this black dress today?

Me: No, I want to wear my new white skirt.

Bright Eyes: What new white skirt?

Me: The one I bought at the op shop this week.

Bright Eyes: The op shop... AGAIN???? (with a mock groan)

Me: Yep, I like the op shop.

Bright Eyes: What's good about it?

Me: It's really cheap.

Bright Eyes (thinking): does it have toys?

Me: Yes.

Bright Eyes: How much are they?

Me: Oh, really cheap.

About ten minutes later, I put on the skirt and walked out into Bright Eyes' view.

Him: Wow. Your skirt is... interesting.

So, we had a pretty good exchange, and he noticed what I was wearing all by himself and commented on it.

The bridge reopening. My vantage point was about 400 metres away, from the back of our car...

Of course, then this afternoon, he got all grumpy. We were having a 'bridge reopening' party in our little town, and went down as a family in the car, but when he saw the numbers of people, he decided it was not for him.

"I'm not getting out," he said. "this is for losers." So we both sat in the car while the others had some fun. Every so often I would see something going on, and comment on it in the hope that he might be tricked into getting interested, but it didn't work.

"Oh, wow. All the kids are getting balloons," I'd say.

"Balloons suck. I hate balloons," he'd say.

"There's a band. They're going to play some music," I'd try.

"Too noisy. Too stupid. Bands are dumb."

"Hey wow. Some horses are going to cross the bridge," I'd go.

"Horses are my worst animal ever. They don't have noses, only nostrils. Cats are much better than horses."

Sigh. 

I don't know why we keep thinking he'll be able to cope with big gatherings of people. It just doesn't work, time after time. Perhaps we should give up before we begin, and save ourselves some frustration.