Yesterday we went to visit our good friend Steve. When I told the girls where we were going, Jules became very excited and said “Yay yay yay!! We go see Steve!”

Her excitement seemed strangely unwarrented, given that toddler long-term memory is scanty at best and the last time we’d seen Steve was maybe six months ago. Probably longer.

I finally asked her, “Do you even remember Steve?”
“Uh huh,” she nodded.
 ”Who is Steve?”
“Blues Clues!”

I burst out laughing. Oh! The guy with the striped shirt! I tried to explain that no, honey, we’re not going to see THAT Steve. This is a different Steve. This Steve doesn’t live with Blue. It didn’t sink in.

At Steve’s house, Jules seemed unfazed that Blue did not appear upon our arrival. We had a visit, hung out a bit, then went on our way in the late afternoon sleet.

Was it I who suggested that Blue was upstairs napping? Or was it Jules, satisfying for her curiosity about where Blue could have been hiding during our visit? I couldn’t fight the cuteness. If she wanted to believe our bachelor pal was sharing his home with a blue spotted cartoon dog, then so be it. There was not a hint of doubt in her voice as we hashed it over on the ride home.

“Blue napping, Mommy.”
“Mmm huh. Napping.”
“We see Blue next time.”
“Yep, honey, maybe next time.”
“Yah, next time.”