Emily told me last night that, instead of reading a bedtime story, she wanted to talk about things before going to sleep. And by “things” she apparently meant “physics, geology, chemistry, and electrical engineering”. Lying in bed, this is how things started:

Emily: Daddy, what is time?

Me: Oh boy. Uh… wow. Well… it’s like the fourth dimension.

Emily: Like one, two, three, four?

Me: Yeah, that’s it. Umm… ok! Do you know what space is?

Emily: Yes! That’s where planets are!

Me: Right. But there’s space everywhere. The planets you’re thinking of are in outer space.

Emily: That’s what I said.

Me: Do you know which planet we’re on?

Emily: England? No, Barcelona!

Me: Well, England is a country and Barcelona is a city. And all the countries and cities are on one planet. Our planet is called Earth.

Emily: Oh yeah, I knew that.

Me: And there are other planets.

Emily: One has lots of different colors and rings around it.

Me: That’s right. That’s Saturn.

Emily: Oh yes.

Me: Do you know any other planets?

Emily: …

Me: One of the planets next to the Earth is called Mars. It’s red.

Emily: Red?!

Me: Yup. And do you know what color the Earth is?

Emily: Brown? Because the ground is brown.

Me: That’s right! It’s brown and green and blue. Do you know why part of it is green?

Emily: Plants?

Me: Very good! And what is blue on the Earth?

Emily: Ice?

Me: Yes, ice can be blue. What else is blue?

Emily: The sky?

Me: Good, but what else on the Earth is blue?

Emily: …

Me: Water is blue.

Emily: Oh yes, of course! Water is a liquid.

And I just stared at her and smiled with pride.

But the conversation didn’t end there. Instead of falling asleep, Emily was infused with the creative energy of curiosity. For our previous conversation had only flirted with the slippery precipice of an altogether different rabbit hole. Good thing I had my phone at the ready: