It's summer. The 10-year-old is in Georgia with her Aunt Nonny and my six-year-old and I are having a week at home, just us. Today she had a friend over to play, and in the middle of the afternoon she runs into the kitchen: "Gimme an I!"
"Eye!" I say.
"NO." She draws a big breath. (Those blue eyes, those adorable freckles, the curly pigtails--oh God, I want to eat her up.) "Just listen. Gimme an I! Gimme an L! Gimme an O! Gimme a V! Gimme a E! Gimme a Y! Gimme a O! Gimme a--" She pauses, thinking. Then: "Gimme a U! Gimme a M! Gimme an O! Gimme a M! Gimme a M! Gimme a Y!" She runs away, then skitters back. "Gimme a exclamation mark!"