I was reading this article about Tina Fey where she said ''I should really strive to have better manners about those things. Pretty soon my kid's going to understand what I'm saying and be able to access it on the computer."
I kind of felt like that Sunday, not with the famous part but the "my kid's going to understand" part. I was playing video games with Lili (she's become an internet paper doll junkie) and she kept calling me "buddy" in a weird voice: "buuh-dee," sort of like Paulie Shore with a head injury. I asked her why she was calling me that, and she said, casually, that it was because I call her that all the time.
I became really aware of it, and I think I DO call her that all the time. Ugh, I mean it to be lovey, but it sounds so patronizing now! So, like Sondheim says, "Careful the things you say, children will listen."
And, for a little more guilt, I was remembering that last night I sat with her by her bed (our new strategy to help her get to sleep), and she was so sweet. She put her head on my lap like a pillow, she told me I was the best daddy ever (her new phrase, see also "You're the worst daddy ever!"), she sang a little bit. I felt like she was going to nod off, but she just kept sitting up and playing: putting her stuffed animals up against the side of the bed like a royal court, asking to get a magic wand from her dress up collection, asking me to wrap her animals in the blankets like dresses. After a while, I just left the room to get her to calm down... but I fell asleep and forgot to go back and check up on her. I hope that's not a bad thing, or that she didn't wonder why I would leave her like that (or am I spoiling her by sitting with her in the first place)?
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