Back?

Bella visited today and discovered my half-packed suitcase.

Her parents are rearing her tri-lingual in Spanish, English, and American Sign Language. She doesn't say much yet, but she has her own language of facial expression that she uses more effectively than the other three.

She's well-acquainted with suitcases because both her parents travel as crew for rock bands. Her mother is a costumer and her father is a sound engineer. So when she saw my suitcase, she looked at me suspiciously and Signed, "Flying."

"Yes," I explained, "I'm flying on Wednesday." I'm not sure she gets the concept "Wednesday," but she looked concerned. I assured her I'll be back April 17. She understands "back." I'm not sure she gets the concept "April 17."

"Back?" she said, dubious.

"Back," I said, in my most reassuring tone.

"Baba back."

She has started calling me Baba. This is new. Until now she didn't call me anything at all. The first time she used the word "Baba" was when I visited her house for the egg hunt this past Sunday. I must have lit up, because my son said, gently,

"It's what she calls her other grandmother, too. And it's what she calls her iPad."

P.S. If you have twenty minutes to be filled with hope for the future, Sugata Mitra has made some amazing discoveries, and I love his analysis of how education got to be the way it is now.