And Then I Stepped in Gum . . .

Sunday, August 21, 2005

It's a Blurry Line

Just now, the doorbell rang. I knew Dave was outside with Katie and Ian, so I figured it was Ian, who's enchanted with the doorbell. Sure enough, it was. He stood on the porch, his hair curling damply, and said, "Oh. I just wanted to see who was in here. Are you Per-fesser Gongle [Professor McGonagall]?"

"Yes, I am," I answered, playing along. Then, noting that he was all alone, "Where's Daddy?"

He hopped down the steps, then turned and looked up at me quizzically. "You mean Hag-id? Hm. I don't know."

"Yes, I mean Hagrid. Where is he?" I asked, a little concerned that Ian was on his own, though I figured Dave had gone around back briefly.

"I don't know. Pwob-wee he's in da Chamber of Secrets, I fink."

Thanks, kid. This immersion in imagination is great and all, but it doesn't help when I actually want to know where your father is.

I can see this is the beginning of a long, long road where fantasy and reality have only the most indistinct of borders. I know. We've been through it with Katie. At one time, when she was just about 4 years old, I'd say she was actually someone else about 75 percent of the time. She's grown out of that now, and it's a relief to know that when you talk to her, you can be pretty sure that she'll answer as Katie, rather than as Spirit, Harry Potter, Hermione, or Notta the Dog (her own creation). But she's still quite impressive at role playing when she wants to be. You should see her horse mannerisms -- you'd never know that she's only been within touching distance of an actual horse a handful of times in her life.

And her brother's following right along. Neigh.

2 comment(s):

So where was Dave?

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:22 AM  

I was just going to ask the same thing!

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:36 PM  

location.href=https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6748772&postID=112466556996297522;> Post a comment

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