Nighttime ritual

I've decided that I should start singing to Rachel before she goes to sleep whenever I'm home. On Thursday I had the night off, so after Drew's great dinner, I went upstairs with Rachel and we read for about 10 minutes in her bed. That is, she read her book and I read mine.

"Look, Mom!" she said. "I'm reading Shakespeare's 'King Lear!'"

Um, great, honey, I said. "That's Daddy's favorite Shakespeare play."

Then I sang "Dona Dona," which I think bored her, and then "Solidarity Forever." When she asked me what the song was about, I explained the concept of unions to her and she said, "So, it's basically an ad for unions."

Yes, I replied.

Then we talked a bit about marriage and children. She said she doesn't want children because "they cost too much and they're so much work." (and I made a mental note to do what I did tonight, which is to tell her that having her is the greatest gift of my life and that Daddy and would never have had her if we couldn't afford to, and that she shouldn't worry about money.)

Besides, she said, she wants to stay single because, "I want to be an old lady and play Bingo. That way, I'll stay young."

I could barely restrain myself from laughing. Where does she get these ideas???