“Mommy, are their skeletons in that graveyard?”

“Yep.”

“Will they get up and walk around?”

“No, no – that only happens in stories.”

“So they are just bones?”

“That’s right.”

(2 hours later)

“Mama, do you go to school?”

“Oh, I did, but I am finished now.”

“Our school?”

“No, I lived in a different town, so I went to a school out there.”

“You lived with Mommom?”

“Yes.”

“In her house?”

“No, we lived in a different house back then.”

(2 hours later)

“Are we moving mama?”

“No sweetie, we don’t have any plans to right now. Why?”

“I don’t want to move. You moved as a little girl, right? (pause) I want to keep our dog.”

“Honey, if we moved, we would take her with us.”

“How?”

“In a truck, we would pack everything up and take it all with us.”

“Who would live here? New people?”

“That’s right.”

“And we would go live in their house?”

“Well, we wouldn’t swap… we’d probably be in a different house.”

(4 hours later – bedtime)

“Mommy!!” (sobbing)

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to grow up!!”

“What? Oh, honey, why?”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“You don’t have to leave me. You can stay as long as you like.”

“But you left Mommom.”

“That was my choice. Maybe you might change your mind when you get older. You can do anything you want to do sweetie.”

“I don’t want to grow up! How do I stop it?”

“Well, you can’t. But it takes a long, long time… just go slowly and enjoy where you are now.”