“Are! You! Gon! Noo! Play! With! Me!”

Saturday mornings are always a whirlwind. It’s not that our schedule is much different; we still try to get out by ten in the morning, and all the same breakfasts and showers are required. The difference, really, is that Kina knows it is the weekend, doesn’t need to do school things, and desperately wants to play all morning.

We are comfortable playing, of course, and our play strategy is fairly comprehensive. On a Saturday morning like today’s, we might play:

1. Gentle Pushover

2. Hide and Seek

3. Baby Rainbow Cat Is Talking to the Chef

4. Roll That Ball

5. Baby Rainbow Cat Is in the Cave

6. Bee Facts Quiz

7. Eat My Face, It’s Spicy

This all adds up, and eventually you sort of have to guide her to the kind of self-driven play that allows you to, say, use the bathroom or, perhaps, get dressed. Most Saturdays have me asking Kina to please let me put on my pants, as she urges me to turn into a pony. Sometimes I get her to use a pillow as the pony. Usually, I end up putting on my pants while I am the pony.

I don’t really mind this, because playing with Kina is loads of fun. I think I had forgotten how to play at some point; I’m not sure when—possibly two decades ago? Play, and not always in the competitive sports sense, keeps us healthy and engaged, and I should be doing more of it, or so says my doctor. Little does he know how much play I am compelled to enjoy on the average weekend. I should send him this newsletter.

Really, though, the reason that I made this the top headline of the day is because Kina, in emphatically delivering this request, made it evident that she thinks “gonna” is actually “gonnoo”, and it’s just the cutest thing when she says it. The entertainment I get from this child is multifaceted and endless, a cavalcade of thrills and mispronunciations—and especially on Saturdays.

I’m so tired.

dad