nerdcore marriage & 2 kids
You need some back story, an essential piece of family lore which I have mysteriously never blogged. Once when Claire was very small, we made one of our regular visits to (be still my heart) the Monterey Bay Aquarium. A docent was introducing her granddaughter to the Pacific Giant Octopus. When the docent ran her finger in a squiggly pattern against the glass, the octopus followed her with a tentacle. In a voice aching with affection, the docent said: “He loves to interact.”
Now you are ready for my story. I have called my husband on the telephone. This is what ensues.
R: Can you stuff the girls’ sleeping bags into the big IKEA bag? And pyjamas for each of them? And a change of clothes for tomorrow?
J: Sure.
J: You don’t like pickles.
R: Hate ’em.
J: The girls don’t like pickles. NO ONE LIKES PICKLES.
R: Someone must like pickles.
J: Because they exist?
R: …yes, that was going to be my supporting evidence.
J: So someone likes neutrinos?
R: Not very often. And only in caves, far beneath Antarctica.
J: They like them. They just don’t like to interact.