Tonight my friend Jessica arrives from New York for one of her periodic visits to the Genovese Ranchero here in the Lone Star State. As one would expect, my girls have grown as fond of my friend as I have, perhaps even moreso. Jessica's arrival near midnight tonight will be the culmination of much anxious anticipation from both both girls, but Kaitlyn especially.
Earlier today, after inadvertently misinforming the four year old of Jessica's arrival time, mommy was accused of lying to her. In order to avert a scandal in the tabloid press, mommy negotiated a settlement: if Kaitlyn took a long afternoon nap, she would be allowed to stay up until Jessica arrived. As I write this, the 'anxious one' keeps popping into the office to check FlightAware and find out, "can we check on Jessica's plane?"
These flight status checks are occuring conveniently between episodes of Diego, which is the entertainment of choice for those in the arrivals lounge this evening. As the trademark Safari drums kicked off another episode a little while ago, I started doing my very chic Diego Dance. This prompted Kaitlyn to ask me, "daddy, did you watch Diego when you were a little boy?"
"No sweetie," I replied, "Diego wasn't created yet when I was a little boy."
She persisted: "You didn't watch it on Netflix?"
"No sweetie," I again replied, "There was no Netflix when daddy was a little boy."
The tone in her voice lowered, and the conversation started to feel more like a cross examination:
K: "Daddy, did you go to California when you were a little boy?"
D: "Yes, daddy actually lived in California when he was a little boy."
K: "But DADDY! You were supposed to stay here when you were a little boy."
D: "I lived with Grandma Daisy and Papa Cozy in California, just like you live with mommy and daddy. And one day, you might move away somewhere else too."
Actually, daddy...
The cross examination abruptly ended with that statement. Now it was a lecture. My four year old daughter lowered her head, narrowed her eyes, and told me in no uncertain terms:
"Actually, Daddy, when I grow up, I'm going to live here all the time."
I guess I don't have to worry about her stowing away with Jessica back to New York.