All the pretty horses, passing through my life.

If you're a Calvin & Hobbes fan (which you should be), you may remember a number of strips where Calvin, in full fantasy mode, would dash through a room narrating his outer-space adventures, and a parent or teacher or other clueless adult would be left staring after him in bewilderment, usually with a suction-cup dart stuck to her forehead. Life with Dutch is like that, except she has no suction-cup darts, and she requires you to engage with her games. Not just engage, engage EXACTLY AS DIRECTED. She tells you "you're supposed to say/do/wonder/cry/etc. ..." and gets all pissed off if you don't comply to the letter. This afternoon she came galloping into the kitchen and shouted "Mama you're supposed to say 'Why are all these horses stampeding in my house?'!!!" and I did, and then she galloped away. I was left staring after her in bewilderment. Actually, that's how I feel about parenting all the time - I'm always looking after her thinking "wait - what?!"