Everybody was in bed. There was a loud noise outdoors, and Dorothy called through the hall, "What was that noise?" I responded that it was probably a truck or something. Then Dorothy, who has a nightlight in her room, asked, "Then why is it so dark in here?" (The power went out.)
"Maaammmaa!" Dorothy hollered from the shower. "I already put out your towel," I called from the living room. "Maaammmaa!" Dorothy repeated. "What?" I yelled. "Maaammmaa!" she insisted. I stood up and walked across the house to the bathroom. "What's the matter?" I asked as Dorothy, wrapped in a towel, stepped from the shower. "I just have so much to tell you," Dorothy said.
Dorothy wanted her science experiment kit, which is named "My Mind-Blowing Science Kit." She asked me to take out the "Brain Exploding Kit."
After a girl in her class said something mean to Dorothy, she apologized the next day. "Mom!" Dorothy announced as she got into the car, "Evelyn apologized to me! It was on the playground. We were playing tag, and I was so surprised that I just stood there and Olivia tagged me."
Dorothy has been watching a show called Ada Twist, Scientist. Concurrently, she has become a night owl. Last night she posed: "I'm going to go to bed one night with no nightlight, no sound machine, and no dolls. Then on the next night, I'm going to go to bed with all those things. Then I'll see which way is better to go to sleep. Mom, what's your hypothesis?"
Lately we have been watching Fraggle Rock. The show has many different types of characters, including five main Fraggles, Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, and Red, and other nameless Fraggles in the background. Dorothy exploded with comments: "I love how Red is really active. It seems like each Fraggle's personality is different. I kind of like how they ignore all the other Fraggles and just focus on that clump of Fraggles."
Brian was out-of-town on his camping trip, and after school I asked Dorothy if she wanted French fries, which take a long time to bake. Eventually I served them to her with a blackbean burger, and she only ate the fries and told me she was finished. I said, "You didn't eat your burger." She said, "You didn't ask me if I wanted a burger. You only asked me if I wanted French fries." I said, "Well, we can't have only French fries for dinner." She said, "Oh, I didn't know it was dinner time because Daddy didn't come home."
Dorothy found a notebook that she used long ago as a diary. She was reading it, and said aloud, "I definitely spelled fools wrong." "What were you writing about fools at age 4?" I demanded. "April Fools Day," she answered.
"How much older is Aunt Mary Beth than you?" Dorothy asked. "3 years," I answered.
"How much older are you than Uncle Daniel?" Dorothy asked. "2 years," I answered.
"How much older is Uncle Daniel than Uncle Patrick?" Dorothy asked. "4 years," I answered.
"How much older is Aunt Mary Beth than Uncle Patrick?" Dorothy asked. "9 years," I answered.
"How much older is Aunt Mary Beth than Uncle Daniel?" Dorothy asked. "5 years," I answered.
"How much older are you than Uncle Patrick?" Dorothy asked. "6 years," I answered.
"Now we've got that straightened out," Dorothy concluded.
Dorothy asked me to clip her toenails. "I hate it when they have white," she said. "When I see white on my nails, it's a sign to me that I need to clip my toenails or bite my fingernails."