Shooka

After giving Madeleine a good-night snuggle this evening:

ME: Okay, honey, I'm gonna go now.
MADELEINE: Shooka.
ME: What?  Shooka?
MADELEINE: Shooka.
ME: What's that mean?
MADELEINE: I made it up!
ME: Oh.  Okay.  Good night, I love you.
MADELEINE: (distracted) Love you too...Mommy?  Is "shooka" a real word?
ME: No.
MADELEINE: (energetically) Oh!  Then "shooka" can be the way that you say "I love my family" in Leesum.
ME: Leesun?
MADELEINE: LeesuMMM.
ME: What's Leesum?
MADELEINE: Oh.  It's the name of my secret language.
ME: Why is it called Leesum?
MADELEINE: I dunno!  I just made it up.
ME: Okay...
MADELEINE: French like French fries.
ME: What??
MADELEINE: Hey!  Mommy!  Maaaaybe the reason that people think French fries are French is because they're called "FRENCH" fries!
ME: Ooookay, I'm gonna go, good-night, I love you.


I mean, if we were ever looking for proof that Madeleine is really an alien from a different planet, I think we may have gotten it tonight.  I wonder what her planet is called in Leesum.  And even though we're her adoptive Earthling family, at least she shooka!