Rhiannon Calling


Rhiannon has a cell phone (although I have been trying hard to get her to call it a "mobile" -- pronounced "moe-baeeeil" as they say in the United Kingdom and other civilized places). It's not a real phone. It's plastic, light-blue and purple, with a picture of Ariel on it (from Disney's The Little Mermaid). Just the thought of Ariel using a phone under water makes me wonder about the physics of how that might work, and I keep failing to come up with an answer other than, "it wouldn't". So instead, I will suspend my disbelief (and yours) and continue.

Rhiannon's phone is a flip-phone. She opens it and the top half is a mirror (she loves this feature), and the bottom half has a touchpad. When you open the phone, it rings, making you look like some kind of cell phone (sorry -- mobile) savant who always anticipates incoming calls. The touchpad does have separate buttons for each number (unlike her first mobile which she lost at school along with her fake iPod and fake 21yo i.d.).

On many occasions, she will abruptly stop talking to a grown-up or friend, say, "I have to take this," open the phone, let it ring, and then carry on a conversation. At times, these can be quite detailed as she pauses to let her phantom friend reply, empathize, and then it's back to Rhiannon to conclude the call with, "let's play sometime". Then back to the original conversation.

The other day she was on the couch with her Ariel phone open, mashing buttons hell-bent-for-leather.

"Rhiannon, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Texting, dad."

Rhiannon. Cute by the numbers.

Andrew (Papa)