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On the way to preschool, I argue with my daughters over which CD song to listen to. A Jon Brion song starts and Mia wails "Nooo!" "No whining!" I retort, busy with navigating through the snow and worn out after a crazy morning. "I don't want this one!" "Say it normally!" I snap. "You hurt my feelings!" replies Mia. "I hurt your feelings? Listen, you have a beautiful life! You have a beautiful home and a family that loves you and warm clothes and food and toys and your life is filled with warmth and happiness and love and you need to be happy!" I look behind me and she is silent, sucking her thumb, a deep dent of worry between her eyes. I soften my voice. "Let's play a game. Okay? You can only say positive things? NO negative things. Do you know what negative means? It's when you say, 'I don't like that' or 'I don't want that' or 'no.' And in this game you can't say that, got it? So we only say positive things, like 'Oh, I'm so glad it's snowing, we can go sledding later' or 'Oh, I love that dog!' Do you understand?" Silence. Then Nora says slowly, "If . . . my heart is broken, I will be dead. For a hundred years. Yeah. And no one comes to kiss me. And I lay there for a hundred years. Yeah."