You're Wanted on the Telephone

When we were kids, my brother Brian and I loved this song from camp; a call and response game, the first singer chose someone in the group to address, and that person responding, as follows:

Hey Heather/
Someone's Calling my name/
Hey Heather/
And I hear it again/
You're wanted on the telephone/
If it's not [choose new name, like Brian], I'm not home

and then it repeats with the new person,

Hey Brian/
Someone's calling my name/

and so on.

I mention this here because, I suppose, summer makes me nostalgic for summer camp (one of my life's main regrets is not being a counselor at Camp St. Croix, because the summer I would have been an AC- Assistant Counselor, for those not in the know- I decided to stay home to be with my boyfriend instead, and then we broke up anyway; I spent my days as a receptionist in my dad's shoe store, where the slogan was Comfort is Our Business); also, yesterday Clio finally, after months of refusals, had a full conversation on the phone.

Normally, when we offer up the phone with a grandparent or cousin on the other end, Clio says brightly, "no thanks!" But yesterday we went to a toy store, and Clio came up with some things she might like for her birthday, so when it was suggested that she might share this information with Nonny she bit, and they proceeded to have quite a conversation.

When I think about the relationship that an older girl has to the telephone, I think I may one day look back on this moment with regret; but for now, I love the idea of Clio communicating so much more directly with her family.