Coming of age

"My music," Stravinsky supposedly said, "is best understood by children and animals." As one ages, then, does one somehow understand it less - less fully, or less instinctively? Perhaps: but here at Half Step, we've been fascinated in recent days to see Cleo moving into a fuller and more instinctive pace when it comes to language. Spend a day with her, and you're bound to hear at least a few chestnuts that don't quite feel, well, childlike. Such as:

Yesterday, as she and I drove to Harford Road for a big breakfast at Clementine's, she asked, from the back seat, "What day is today?" Reasonable question, I thought, and answered in turn: "Today is Sunday." And then she, from the back: "The week just goes on and on."

Well, yes, it does - but that phrasing felt more like the output of a weary teen, or an overwhelmed office worker, than the thoughts of an energetic 3-year-old. I was even more surprised, though, when we got in the car and began to drive home after spending some time on a playground just south of Clementine's. We drove slowly over a large speed bump, rocking the car, and Cleo suddenly said, "I was like, 'What was going on?'"

You were like? You're paraphrasing your own reaction? Aren't you, um, 3?

Yes, Daddy. But I'm also one of the few people (along with, say, dogs) who can best understand the music of Stravinsky. Unlike you.