A GM for Kitty?

So I'm on a train for the second time in about a month (since it offers quick and easy access to some areas around Los Angeles that take forever by driving). And I'm playing Star Wars on the Playstation Portable.

A youngish Latin girl and her kids get on, a baby boy and a 5-ish girl who was obviously the result of advanced genetic engineering. Very cute. As she was getting on I overheard her mom saying the train was electric, and the girl asked where the wires were. Smart kid.

So, I'm playing Star Wars, and the girl moves across the aisle to sit next to me and see the game. She wound up leaning on my shoulder to watch, and I gave her a smile before I went back to slaughtering Jedi. She leaned against me and watched for about five minutes, and I held the PSP so she could see everything I was doing. I couldn't tell you what the mom's reaction was, since I didn't really look. I would have handed it off to her and shown her how to play, but the very next station was my stop. Darn.

Gamer girls rule. I hope she gets a system soon, and gets bored with it eventually. I found myself wondering if she has enough books on real things like The Way Things Work (and National Geographic magazine is absolutely mandatory for kids too) and such, but it's not like I could offer unsolicited parenting advice.

But it did get me thinking. I used to volunteer to read to kids at some of the schools back in my hometown when I was in high school. I didn't do as well with the Spanish books since I didn't have any experience living in Cali yet, but I managed (once I filtered out my mom's Portuguese). Still, lots of fun. And nobody reads enough. Especially kids. Maybe I'll get into something like that again.