Larien at Four Years

Nearly close to her birth, I knew exactly how to describe Inwe. Both Phill and I predicted that she would always appear to be older than her age, which is true. With Finwe, I will not pronounce this as if it won't change, but I predict that he will be a mixture of his grandfathers' personalities. Both were friendly, out-going, confident men. That is who Fiwne will become.

Larien's personality has remained an enigma to me. She's night and day, sweet and sour, monster and angel. All swirled into one kid with a sweet face that makes everyone smile. Still, she was the child that I could not easily describe to her teachers this year. She is Larien. Take her or leave her. Don't ask her to change.

Last night as I was lying in Larien's bed waiting for her to sleep, I realized why she is who she is.

Early in our marriage, Phill and I had a very long discussion about what we expected of each other. During his intern year, all that careful planning became null and void. He needed sleep after being awake for a day and a half. I, whacked out and isolated by graduate school, needed him to hear all my thoughts. Unfortunately, my tendency is to internalize my thoughts until just before I fall asleep. Just when Phill wanted sleep, I wanted to discuss topics not easily covered in a few short minutes or with grunts. We compromised. I forced myself to talk earlier in the evening although I was not prepared mentally. I still have a burst of thoughts before I sleep.

That is Larien; she has Phill's ability to function for long periods of time without sleep and my tendency to gather all her thoughts until just before sleep claims her. With no prompting from me, Larien began telling me that some of the "twinkling lights outside the window are planets." After that declaration, I heard all she knew about the planets, including that Pluto was demoted to planetoid.

She expounded upon Jupiter: "It has a storm that NEVER stops, and it looks like a big red spot. And do you know which is the baddest planet ever?" Not waiting to hear my answer, she continued, "Neptune!" I watched her eyes widen as her hands gestured in circles. "It has storms all the time, and you can't breathe at all on it. It would kill you to be on the planet." I am sure there were more qualifications for baddest planet ever, but I was tired and didn't store all the information in kid form. Although I did remember that the lines around the sun aren't really there.

Larien talked for half an hour. Probably other parents would have stopped her earlier, but I couldn't because I was interested to hear what she remembered about the solar system. I joined in to correct the order of the planets from the sun outwards. Only when she began repeating the information did I tell her that she had to stop to sleep. "I'm not tired, Mommy."

"Yes, you are. Close your eyes, dream of the planets, and you'll sleep."

She replied from under her blanket, "Not of the baddest planet ever."

Within two minutes she was asleep.

If that helps you understand Larien, I am glad. My comprehension of who she is was greatly increased by that occurrence.

Happy Birthday, Larien. I hope you allow me to take your photo so others can see you.


Want a reference? Try KidsAstronomy.com.