The other day, my kids, Thing 1 & Thing 2, who are nearly 5 and nearly 6, were outside playing. They were nominally climbing a tree, and didn't notice what I did from my vantage point on the porch: a boy from our neighbor's house watching them longingly. He made the progression from neighbor's yard, to the ditch in front of our house, to the street at the end of our driveway (we live on a quiet-ish road). It was then that Things 1 & 2 noticed them. Lover invited the boy to come into the yard, and Things 1 & 2 promptly incorporated him into a game of hide and seek. At one point, Thing 1 went racing by and I stopped her.


I wonder at what age we start thinking that names are important and assume that people walking by are not refugees from burning buildings.