The Conversation

Daily, for the last seven years, basically since Thing One could speak, we have been having a variation on the following conversation:

Mommy?
Yes?
(long pause as Thing One stares absently into the middle distance.)
What?
Oh. Nothing.

Perhaps an hour passes:

Mommy?
Yes?
(long pause as Thing One stares...)
What?
Huh? Oh. I forget.

Later in the day:

Mommy?
Yes?
(long pause as Thing One stares...)
What?
Hmmm. Nevermind.
(short pause as I gather my inner resources.)
Are you sure you do not have something you need to talk about?
No. I just like to say your name.

You can imagine how annoyed one might become by this.

Well, today I called my mother and we had this interchange:

Hello?
Hi, Mom.
(long pause)
(I giggle self-consciously)
Um, I don't really have anything to say. I just wanted to say "hi."

:)