birthday adjective

[redbird]

I gave cattitude a birthday adjective yesterday.

I bought some of the adjectival objects and made others: the lyrics of "One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple People Eater", printed on purple paper; a lollipop that I am promised will change the color of his tongue; a copy of Harold and the Purple Crayon; some chocolates, in a fancy gift bag; and a feather, dyed purple, attached to the wrapping paper I used for the book. It didn't take long for him to identify his birthday adjective as purple, just the thing for a Big Purple Cat. He grinned, I grinned, we went out for a birthday dinner (at which the silly lantern next to our table was purple, by luck), and every time I said "purr" for the rest of the evening he added "ple".

I may have to do this again some time. With more pre-planning, more complex or abstract adjectives should be possible. We had fun discussing possible adjectives last night, for him or for me--"alliterative" and "peripatetic" have promise, but I want nothing to do with "plaid". Making things was fun, and so was the shopping expedition: scanning store shelves for color is both quick and amusing, especially when it's a book or chocolate shop, rather than someplace that sells things that are normally bought by color, like paint.

Comments

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

This is an extremely cool idea, though I'm not sure there are any adjectives with which I identify that strongly. Unless you can think of a one-word synonym for "more complicated than that".

[stealthpup.livejournal.com]

labyrinthine? esoteric? convoluted? Ineffable?

[redbird]

Next year's adjective, if I do this again, may not be something he associates with as closely. Jo's "splendiferous" is a fine and festive word, but "purple" was easier to handle on short notice.