Oh What a Beautiful Morning

I don't often do nice on this blog, but I'm prepared to break the habit of a lifetime to share some of the wisdom of my favourite 8-year-old, at whose home I stayed last night. This is the 8-year-old that we took on a London Duck Tour mid-December having been assurred by her that "It won't be too cold as long as we wear our hats, and our scarves, and our gloves."

At 5.30am, cosily wrapped up in a sleeping bag on a lilo in my cousin's lounge, 8-year-old appeared.
Me: "Are you OK?"
Her: "Yes. I'm going to get into bed with you and play on my Nintendo DS. You can go back to sleep if you like."

She snuggles up to me and pulls most of the sleeping bag off me.

Her "Are you going to go back to sleep?"
Me: "Yes."
"But you have to get up soon anyway."
"Not for an hour and a half."
"OK."
(Pause of about 30 seconds)
Her: "I'll turn the sound off so you can sleep."
Me: "Thank you."
(Pause of about a minute.)
Her: "Do you want to have a go?"
Me: "No."
(Pause of another minute)
Her: "When you were my age, was Nintendo DS invented?

I make the mistake of embarking on a long and involved discussion on the merits of Chuckie Egg, and the thrill of having your once-a-fortnight go at the spelling game on the classroom's one computer. She is non-plussed.

Her: "Where are you going today?"
Me: "Harrogate."
Her: "Why?"
Me: "I'm going on a conference."
"What's it about?"
"Oh, we're talking about how to help people keep their jobs and how to make sure people get paid enough and stuff.
"Oh." (Pause) "That sounds boring."
"It is."
"Then why are you going?"
"Because I have to."
"Can I come with you?"
"No. You have to go to school."
(Pause while I watch her successfully complete an agility trial with a cartoon dog on her DS, to which she reacts with an enthusiastic "YES! GET IN!")

I roll over on the bed and make what I hope are sleepy noises.

"Do you still eat coco pops?"

And so began my day. It's nearly over now. I'm tired.