conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Who did better, Mother?”
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Yeah, who?”
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Umm…” They inched closer to me. I thought they might be joking for a moment, but their serious eyes said otherwise.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Can’t we just say you both did well?”
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Unacceptable! Please choose one of us!”
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Who won? !”
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “U-umm…” Children tended to get hung up on the strangest things. I couldn’t just play it off for now either; just a year of being a parent had taught me I’d regret that down the line.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Do you know how we tell good cleaning from bad?” I tried changing the focus a bit.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “I don’t know.”
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “How?”
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “The first factor is thoroughness. We can say Aleah is a winner because she wiped the most vigorously.”
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “So I’m the winner!” Aleah proudly declared.
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Aww…” May furrowed her lips and began to pout.
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “But cleaning a wide area is also important. In that sense, May is a winner.”
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Yay!”
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Huh?” This time, Aleah pouted as May celebrated.
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “So it’s a tie.”
conversations.prefix: Mother:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Huh? !” And now they both looked displeased. Good grief.
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Is something wrong?”
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Yes, something’s wrong!”
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “I don’t like it!”
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Would you prefer it if I chose one of you randomly?”
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “I wouldn’t like that…”
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Yeah…”
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “That’s why it’s a draw. You both did your best.” I stroked their heads again, but they still looked grumpy. “Why don’t you go play in the yard? I still have some cleaning to do. Ralaire, can you come here?” A semi-transparent, amorphous creature came creeping forth at my call. This was Ralaire, my water slime familiar. These days, she was the size of a large dog, which was normal for adult water slimes. I missed the days when I could carry her in my school bag and feed her treats.
conversations.prefix: Rae:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Ralaire, can I have a piggyback ride?”
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  Ralaire extended her arms—or whatever you’d call her amorphous tendrils—and heaved Aleah onto her back.
conversations.prefix: Ralaire:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “May, you too!” It seemed the competition was over. Perhaps Aleah wanted to make amends by inviting May to join her?
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Yeah! Ralaire, me too, please!”
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  Ralaire easily scooped May up as well before heading out the front door to the yard.
conversations.prefix: Ralaire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Faster, Ralaire, faster!”
conversations.prefix: Aleah:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Right! Go right!”
conversations.prefix: May:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  I didn’t know how to feel about that. I had to discuss it with Claire later. “Well… I’m sure it’ll turn out all right.” Parenting was about trial and error. Sometimes, that meant you had to let go and allow nature to take its course. No parent was omniscient, after all. I never once regretted coming to this world. But after raising my own children, I wished I’d had a chance to thank my real parents for raising me. There were just some things you couldn’t appreciate until you had children of your own.
conversations.prefix: Rae: