Chanya and I have this new game. It’s during the bedtime ritual, when all the other kids go and tell daddy goodnight.

I’ll back up just a bit to paint the picture. I usually read stories to the babies, (Imani, Joy, Esteban and Chanya) in Esteban and Xay’s room, because Esteban used to fall asleep during stories, and this way I didn’t have to lug him as far. Of course, he stopped falling asleep approximately exactly when we moved operations to his room. But the room is small and easier to keep up with Chanya, so we stay there.

Xay has a nerf basketball hoop on the back of his room door. Their room is usually way too trashed for anyone to notice said hoop, but Xay cleaned it up really well the other day, so ‘oh, look at that! A basketball hoop!’ we all spontaneously said. So yesterday, while I was waiting for the kids to come back from saying goodnight so I could tuck them in bed, I decided to shoot hoops rather than sleep on the floor.

I missed the first shot. Chanya noticed the ball, and carefully walked over and picked it up. I wasn’t sure what she would do with the ball, so I asked her to give it to me. She brought it over to me and showed it to me and pulled it back. She did this a couple of times, and then it fell out of her hand. I said, “Thank you, Chanya!” and took the ball and shot again. She walked over and picked up the ball again and brought it to me, gently dropping it for me. I thanked her again, and we had a pleasant game until the babies returned and confused her by all calling for the ball at once.

Tonight, as soon as they left to say goodnight, Chanya and I started our game again. But this time, Chanya dropped the ball before she got it to me, and she accidentally kicked it. She liked that, so she tried that every time she got the ball. Eventually she lost interest and started playing with the lotion. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. . .