Natalia and her friends are having a sleepover here tonight. I conversed with her and a friend as I got some food from the kitchen.

Dan: What are you guys doing tonight?
Natalia: We're having a Girl Scouts sleepover. Fifteen girls, not including me.
Dan: Is that including me, though?
Natalia: No! You're not a girl!
Dan: Hey! I could be. I look great in a dress, I'll have you know.
Natalia: No you don't! You look ugly in a dress.
Natalia's Friend: Don't you mean he would look ugly in a dress? You haven't actually seen him in one.
Natalia: Yes, I have. Believe me, he looks ugly.

I like to imagine what kind of household her friend must think we have.

Yesterday at the Girl Scouts meeting, Natalia and her friend Anna Sofia were "Junior Aides" — they were in charge of teaching a class of Brownies about Girl Scouts around the world. One of the things they had to do was teach them a song or story from a different country, and a few days earlier she asked if I knew any. I told her that actually I did — there was a song about a bunny we learned in Japanese class called 'Usagi Usagi.' I agreed to come to the meeting and teach the girls the song, and Natalia brought a picture book I brought her from Japan that had pictures of bunnies in it. Mami came to help out, and she took some pictures while I taught them the song.

The kids picked up the song pretty fast, especially considering they're like six years old. They didn't really get the melody right, but it's difficult since it uses a scale that is uncommon in Western music. I remember my Japanese class practicing the song over and over before we got it down, so the fact that six-year-olds learned it at all is quite impressive. It was also very cute to see these tiny little kids singing about bunnies hopping.