Out Of The Mouth Of Ains: The Ish Edition

As Ainsley always does when she's exceedingly happy, she spent much of the day Saturday talking about how much she loves all of us. I think she gets overwhelmed easily by her own joy and doesn't know what to say. Saturday was the day we put all the Christmas decorations up and put the lights outside our house, so her heart was light as we travelled out to do a little Christmas shopping.

"I love you so, so much!" she chimed from the backseat. "I love you more than anything else. Except Daddy. And Mamaw. And Meemaw. And God. And everybody else in our family."

And there she stopped short.

"Except that God isn't in my family," she reasoned. "He doesn't have our last name."

This brought a discussion about last names. I felt she needed a little clarity here; because of remarriage, her Meemaw doesn't have the same last name as her Daddy. I explained how people in the same family can have different last names because when women marry, they take their husband's name. Most of the time.

"So if you grew up and married your friend John from school," I explained, "your new name would be Ainsley Smith. Or if you married Greg, your name would be Ainsley Hanson."

"Oh, but I would never marry Greg," she said. "I've told you before that he's mean-ish, nice-ish, and fun-ish. But mostly mean-ish."

That's right, kid. Keep your standards high. Hold out for someone special-ish. Maybe rich-ish. But definitely smart-ish. How about doctor-ish?