My Day's End

There was a real joker around this evening.

Actually, there were four of them...on the living room floor. I just spent the last two hours playing cards with a twenty month old baby. Her grandmother, who died just about two weeks ago, was a good friend of someone in the house. Mother, father, and baby came to dinner tonight.

I ended up on the floor of the living room with one kid and two decks of cards. According to her parents, this was her first encounter. We tested physics--how far can a card fly? We performed magic--now you see a card, now you don't! And we learned some origami--one or two of the cards will never be quite the same.

I was both astonished and gratified at the fun to be had handing 104 cards back and forth...swirling them into patterns on the floor...putting them back in the case...and then starting all over.

There is something so simple and straightforward about interacting with a child. Basic toys, a clean floor, open and easy demeanor... and it helps to know the basic gist of the itsy-bitsy spider--a timeless tune never out of style, no matter how sophisticated society has become.

There is something reassuring about that.