Alexis gathered up her coloring book and box of crayons - walked into my bedroom, sat down on the floor (I do love how all children love to sit on the floor) and spread her art supplies out in front of her.
I was lying on my bed, propped against my comfy pillows - watching Entertainment Tonight.
She says, "Mom --- What's your favorite thing in the whole world?"
Now ... at my age - I have known A LOT of things.
I must have encountered a gazillion things - over the course of these past many years.
Things --- I can't begin to list all the things I love and then analyze that list of things and then pick a favorite thing from that list - come on! It would take me months - a year even - to tackle this project!
I gaze down at my little darling daughter and I say, "What do you mean - thing?"
She is busy coloring - choosing her crayons carefully and she says, without looking up at me, "Like noun. What is your favorite noun?" she pronounces the word noun with a BIG OW in the middle - you know - nOW-un.
The word bounces around in my old brain for a minute and then I say, "Noun? What do you mean - nOW-un?"
Now she looks up at me and she gets a wrinkled look on her face and she says, "You don't know what a nOW-un is?" she giggles. "Person, place or thing," she offers in her most authoritative teaching voice.
"Oh," I smile. Then I simply say, "YOU."
She raises her big brown eyes and she smiles. She says, "I was guessing you would say that. Then she says, "What is the nOW-un that you hate the most?"
"The desert," I answer, without giving it much thought.
"Why," she is curious.
"Because it is hot and I'd hate to be left out in the desert without water - it just seems like an awful place."
"What about bears," she growls like a bear. "They can eat you - scare you. What about bears?"
"I'm okay with bears," I say.
"Know what my favorite nOW-un is?" she asks.
"No - what is it," I roll over and lie on my side so I can see her clearly.
"God," she answers easily. "And Jesus," she keeps on coloring.
"Yes - mine too," I say. "I forgot about God ... He's my favorite nOW-un too."
On the upside ... Just about the time I am pretty sure I know a little bit about just about everything ... a tiny girl comes into my room, sits down on the floor with her coloring book and crayons and teaches me a thing or two about English and ... a life time or two about how simple it is to list the most important and most favorite .... nOW-un ... of all.