ALL SHE SAYS / Who needs more of this?

She turns on the TV.

An ad passes before her eyes like a train through a station. 

She asks me if this is what I do.

I tell her this is what I do.

She asks me if this is paying for her toys.

I tell her this is paying for her toys.

She says that she wants to call her friends and tell them to watch more ads.

I ask her why.

She says that if I make more ads, she gets more toys.

I tell her she’s getting spoiled.

She asks me to text her friends’ moms and tell them to tell her friends to watch more ads.

I ask her why they should listen to her.

She says because they are her friends.

I ask her why they should listen to me.

She says because I am her papa.

At 10:45 PM comes the noise. 

First she wrestles with the pillow. 

Then she farts. 

Then she kicks the wall. 

Then she needs water.

I walk into her bedroom with a plastic Frozen cup.

Silhouettes of toys in the dark salute me from the bottom of her world.

The Doc McStuffins kit.

The Super Soaker.

The Easy-Bake Oven.

The veterinarian clinic.

The Shopkins collector case.

The Lego Grand Hotel.

The karaoke machine.

I hand her the cup and ask her if she thinks we need more toys.

She gulps the water down with her eyes closed.

She hands back the cup and asks me if I think we need more ads.