915

while liam had a playdate after a morning at summer camp yesterday, susanna and i had a Girls Day. we enjoyed several rounds of dora candyland, then an hour or so of maneuvering her princesses around her dollhouse, and then dress-up with her new plastic jewelry set from the dollar store that happens to coordinate quite nicely with her cinderella gown. after our tea party, she climbed up into my lap and looked at me with the most serious expression i think i've ever seen on her little kewpie face. "do you know how much i love you?" she asked, echoing a question i often pose to her and liam. and then, without waiting for my reply, she said, "nine fifteen." i pondered her words as i loaded the dishwasher a few minutes later. 915? what did that mean? the girl can barely count past twenty. why was she quantifying love with a number like 915? and then, it hit me. not only was she echoing the question i ask her and liam several times a day, but also the answer. for while other parents might say, "to the moon and back", or "more than there are stars in the sky", i choose different terms. as a former math teacher and fan of all things numerical, my answer is always the same: "infinity." or, to the ears of my three year old daughter ... 915.