Terrence

As many of you know, I've spent quite a bit of my free time babysitting in the five years since I moved to Chicago. Not only is the extra spending cash nice, but it allows me to hang out with kids, which I always love. Two of my regulars are an 8-year-old (today's her birthday!) named Brynn, and her 4-year-old brother, Aidan. Of all of the children I've babysat for (and there have been many) none have been as imaginative as Brynn. We can be walking to the park, and she will pick up an acorn and spin an entire backstory around it and how it's actually the home of a tiny fairy (she's REALLY into fairies and Peter Pan). It never ceases to amaze me how she can just make something up on the spot. The girl would be one hell of a politician. ;) The picture above is her bedroom door. No one in the family smokes, but you can never be too sure. And liars, well, that just speaks for itself.

Yesterday, I babysat for the kids all day and late into the evening. In an effort to get them away from the TV, and since it was cold and rainy outside, I suggested we build a good old fashioned pillow and blanket fort. This sent Brynn's imagination into full throttle. Once the fort was built, and we were all snug inside it, the following conversation ensued:

Brynn: I am Tinkerbell, and this is my brother, Terrence. He likes to go by Aidan, but his real name is Terrence. You can call him Aidan, though. We're Tinkerfairies. He is my little brother. He was born after me. Wanna know why he came here? Because a baby laughed...I mean, TWO babies laughed when they were born, and they were from the same family, so they made them brother and sister and sent them here. And that's Terrence and me.

Aidan (aka Terrence): Yeah. And I don't like hawks.

Brynn: He's really into being a Tinkerfairy.