Niranjana, Melissa and Andy Perdue

It's not uncommon for Niranjana to have marker and paint all over her by the end of the school day. Today I commented on a small, horizontal purple squiggle on her left bicep.

"That's my tattoo," Niranjana says.

Oh my! She is re-enacting her father's recent acquisition of a tattoo: Niranjana's name in her birth language of Tamil. It has been much discussed at our house as an item of father-daughter bonding. The video of the tattoo process can be found at http://www.atomictown.com/at/read/bethany/story/9729346p-9644423c.html. No, Niranjana and I were NOT there when this occurred.

"Whose name is it on your arm?" I ask our child, who suddenly is growing up fast.

"It says 'Daddy'."