Potions and Notions

On hair washing day, Ada decided she wanted to be the one to pour water on her head. She put water into a bottle, but then decided she should add some liquid soap and some shampoo. This quickly moved from being a "get my head wet" project to a "make some potions" project. As she combined the soaps and other items in her assembled bottles, she narrated the following explanation:

In the old days, witches, when they were good, they made this and gave it to the wise men. And they brought it to the baby. Baby Jesus!

Do you know why you make it? Because when Jesus is a grown up he can drink it. You can make it and put it on your porch and the wise men will come and drink it.

This one is for Jesus for when he was a baby. It was called "formula" but it wasn't made of milk, it was made of horses' brains and they were mushed up. Actually, it was a certain kind of drink called "formula brains." It wasn't from brains.

(and then she said something I did not completely follow about how the drink could help you find your home.)

People used to make this kind of thing for the three wise men. See the bubbles? This will remind the three wise men, when they come by, of home. This is a famous drink.

The three wise men need it, really. They need to put it in a bottle. And they give it to the Village People.*




*She probably didn't mean it this way, but I kept picturing these Village People.