Refinancing

This morning I was trying to tackle the delicate subject of "separate" households with Anna, who is nine. Lucian, who is six, was too busy using his cereal as bullets to even listen to the conversation. Which would, of course, explain why there was cereal stuck to both of the dogs since they had the misfortune of being in the line of fire. Serves them right for begging.
Anyway, I was telling Anna that it would be next to impossible for one parent to afford all of the household expenses and so we were thinking about selling the house and each parent would have a place to live that was smaller and more affordable. Then she asked how much the mortgage was, after she figured out what a mortgage is.
"It's about 1,500 a month. And remember, baby, that does not include heat, electricity, food, tae kwon do...."
"Toys," Lucian chimed in.
"Right, toys. Dad and I can't afford to live in this house when we aren't together."
Anna still said nothing, just kept chewing on her cereal. Then she took a deep breath.
"1,500 bucks!!!! For Chrissakes the house is a hundred friggin' years old. I mean, look at this place! There's a crack in the floor that goes from one end of the kitchen to the other. And have you seen the garage lately!? For Chrissakes! That's ridiculous."
Then she calmly went back to eating her cereal leaving Lucian and I stunned. So she has noticed the many flaws of our old, overpriced farmhouse.
What can I say, we got it before the bubble burst. And she is right about the crack in the floor.
Suddenly I don't feel so guilty for uprooting the kids.....eventually.