AH, THE INNOCENCE...

I was chatting for quite a while with 5-year-old Kaya on the phone last night, now that she's old enough to be able to chat at length without just listening at the phone like at a keyhole, the way her 2-year-old twin sisters (Mitsuki and Miasa) still do.

Talking about her typical day in school and swimming class, and how the twins are always fighting but she never is, Kaya spoke so intelligently that in her physical absence I was lulled into forgetting that her mind is still only 5 years old.

As I kept asking her when she was coming to visit us again (as I do every time we call her) and pointing out that Echo and I are the only ones staying in this big old house, that we have lots of room and the frogs are singing, so she could come and stay anytime, she said that she was very busy these days (the frenzied modern 5-year-old lifestyle), then suggested brightly: "Why don’t you and Echo just have some more babies so you'll have somebody to play with when I'm not there?” I didn't know what to say to that, so I just listened at the phone like at a keyhole.