Convos with the kids

SAM: ::pant, pant, pant::
ME: “Hi, Sam. How was school?”
SAM: ::pant, pant!:: “Water!”
ME: “Sink. What’s going on?”
SAM: ::pant, pant; glug, glug:: “Running!”
ME: “Why were you running?”
SAM: “I…heard…a noise! It went fzzzzzzz-chunk!”
ME: “What do you think it could have been?”
SAM: “I don’t know! Maybe a ghost knocking over something, or a skeleton!”
ME: “Highly unlikely.”
GABE: “Sam, Sam. Don’t you know what to do if something’s bothering you? You put up your hand, like this, say ‘stop,’ and tell a grownup.”
SAM: “That won’t work on a ghost!”
GABE: “Then you go tell another grownup! And if they won’t help you either, you tell your parents! See?” ::walks away, shaking his head, muttering::