andamu

"But Mommy, we can have cookies quickly if you stick them in the milky wave."
Nini, only half-listening: "Not milky wave, darling, Milky Way."
Angel Face:"Noooo, Mommy, the milky waVE, where you pop the popcorn!"
::
I brought her a pink helium-filled balloon yesterday. She was overjoyed, talking to it as if it was a person.
This morning, she walked dejectedly into our room. trailing the partially deflated balloon:
"Doddamma, Peddananna, see my balloon is out of breath!"
::
And she is getting crafty.
After my dismayed exclamation, Nini was commisserating with me over the proliferation of silver hair among my dark tresses.
So little Miss Nosy wants to know what is going on, and Nini points out the way the strands are turning white.
No prizes for guessing that the next question was "Why?"
Coming as it did after a recent streak of naughtiness, Nini said: "Every time you are naughty, one of Doddamma's hairs turn white. Just think, when she walks around, everyone can see how naughty you've been when they see all the white hairs."
It took a little while to digest this, but it had a sobering effect.
Later we're talking about the possibility of a visit from me to Angel Face's Day Care.
"No!" she pipes up, panicky. "You can't come to my school!"
"Why not?"
"Because you have an owie on your tummy."
"Hmm. And why else?"
"Because then my teachers will see how naughty I've been."