Questions in Her Voice

Today I got an extra dose of Kaylin's chattering as it was only her and Kai in the back seat on the way to and from St. Paul for their well-checks. No Kavan to keep her entertained. I wish I had a tape recorder to catch everything she says, knowing some day how much I'd appreciate it. For now I admit to getting impatient with her endless questions. My answers never seem to satisfy. There's always a "Why?" and at times I just can't come up with any more details for her.

At one point she said "I have a lot of questions in my voice." This is the truest thing she has said today, although it was quite out of context. I had just let her know she was going to the dentist next week and she had responded with "I want to sit in the chair by myself this time." I was absolutely amazed that she remembered the previous time there almost a year ago when she sat in the chair in my lap.

Among other interesting aspects of our car conversation was trying to convince her the St. Paul Cathedral was a church and not a castle. And then, "I have an idea!" she said excitedly,"How 'bout we call it a church castle?!"

Her dreams also inspire interesting conversation. She wakes up often in the middle of the night, often crying from a nightmare. I wish now I'd written down each one. A couple nights ago she was crying very hard suddenly at 2 a.m. and when I asked her what she dreamt about she continued crying "I didn't have any pillows!"

And then there are her more important questions. The ones she asks and I desperately hope to be answering correctly. Today I explained to her that she shouldn't ask her friend Jordan questions about his dad. (That morning they were playing together and after the sound of Ben grinding coffee beans she asked him if his dad grinds coffee. He thought a few seconds and then said "we don't make coffee any more.")

"Why?" was her obvious response to my request. "Because he doesn't have a dad any more." "Why" "Because his daddy died." "Because he was hit by a car?" she asked - I was shocked to hear something other than "why". "Yes, he was hit by a car." "Why" "Because his daddy was a police officer (I immediately wished I hadn't said that) and he was hit by a bad guy." "Why was he a bad guy?" "Because he was trying to get away from the police." "Why" "Because he was naughty." "Why?" I think this is the point where the circular arguments started "He was bad because he was naughty because he was a bad guy..."

Tomorrow I will hope for more fun, lighthearted conversation. And more patience for the endless "questions in her voice!"