Typing my paper....I was looking for the right word..

and I said, Maya, what's a word that means, like, to cause something...to make something happen, to have an effect...??

I didn't expect an answer, though she offered "rapido." An interesting interpretation, I thought.

So when I decided on "influence," I asked her if she knew what it meant. I explained that it was like how what I do and think and say has an effect on her...that for example, my loving music, might influence her to love music. That "I have an influence on you", I said.

Maya: And I have an influence on you.

Me: Right, exactly! That's true. (wondering if she really understood or if it was just her tendency to have a quick and smart reply to everything...wherever could that trait come from??)

Maya: and we have an influence on other people too....all over the world.

???