I think I’ve mentioned before that when asked who she played with on a given day, Reid will often say “my daycare f’ends”. If pressed, she will name names. I have decided that I shouldn’t be giving actual names in the event that someone’s parent is a secret agent, involved in witness protection of just a private person. Reid doesn’t talk much in front of me at daycare. She will wave to or smile at people when she first sees them or as we are leaving but she doesn’t often speak. There are a couple of little girls who always say, “Hi, Reid!” when we arrive or they do but they get only smiles in response, at least when I’m there to hear. The teachers say that Reid talks more when I’m gone. Did I tell you that when the one girl started in Juniors, her mom asked her if she’d made any friends and she happily replied, “Reid”? One of the toddler teachers said that Reid had a little “gang” with whom she hung around. Her bestest girl friend ever, L, is now staying at home while her mama is on maternity leave and so Reid hasn’t seen her since Christmas. (I think that Reid would say Dylan is her bestest boy friend given how happy she is to see him and how much she talks about him. Ben would be a close second but she is only starting to be human in his eyes – it’s more of hero worship, so far.) In the last couple of months, a couple girls that were in Toddlers with Reid have come up to Juniors and so she is able to reform her gang. One of the teachers was commenting last week that Reid has been coming out of her shell lately, I think Reid needed time to feel comfortable but also that having the new old girls has helped.
I mentioned that Reid had noticed boys stand up when they pee and yesterday when the topic of — Ken, you might not want to read this — Daddy having a penis came up, though I don’t know why Reid and I were discussing the fact, she piped in, “like some of my daycare f’ends”. I had to agree that some of her friends do come so equipped. It was an odd conversation, I guess, but I think it would have been worse if we didn’t use the technical terms. It wouldn’t work for me to say Daddy has a “pee-pee” or something like that. He *is* also my *husband* after all. Ironically, I think I’d have more trouble discussing our “womanly bits” (see what I mean about it seeming silly) though we have always been consistent with using “breast”. I wonder if the little boys at daycare discuss with their parents how the girls pee. I bet they don’t. Okay, so now that I’ve given you something to talk about at the supper table, I think I’ll wrap up.