Emily was very tired tonight after having played all afternoon in the park with her friend Natalie. We survived all of the bedtime preparations with minimal drama and, for her bedtime story, I read The Giving Tree.

When the story was finished, I put the book back on the shelf, turned off the light, tucked her in, and kindly kissed her goodnight. As I was kissing her head, Emily said to me, “You know those songs about trains? The ones with people on the trains?” I had no clue what she was talking about so I smiled kindly and told her so. She looked me in the eyes and continued, “Those train songs? I have it stuck in my head.” She tapped her head to show me where this song was stuck. “And Can You Feel The Love Tonight. That’s stuck in my head. And stumps. And trees. And wives and daughters and Emilys.” I kindly laughed, said goodnight once more, and legged it out of there before her stream of consciousness picked up any more speed.