Scarlette is still in that innocent phase of childhood where she thinks that everyone is her friend. Sometimes when the windows are open and she hears the neighborhood kids talking, she will run to the window, press her face against the screen and yell “WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU! I’M UP HERE!”
And when I try to explain to her that they aren’t actually talking TO her, they are just talking and we can hear them she says to me “Yes dey are talking to me. Dey my friends!”
The other day they came to up to the house to see if she could play so we went outside.
I love listening to Scarlette’s conversations with the other kids.
The little boy who lives next door is about her age and they engaged in a lively conversation about one another’s names and the things that belong to them. I guess when you are three it is very important to clarify who is YOUR mommy and all the reasons that she is NOT someone else’s mommy.
Then they discussed our dog Lucy, and how sometimes we let our friend pet Lucy Dog but that doesn’t mean that she is his dog. She is still Scarlette’s dog. Petting Lucy Dog does not grant transfer of ownership of Lucy Dog. Apparently, Scarlette is going to be a lawyer. This discussion went on for a very long time.
After this was cleared up Scarlette pursed her lips thoughtfully for a minute and then pointed to our front porch and said “Oh yeah, that’s my door.”
And the little boy shrugged his shoulders and sort of casually tossed his head to the side while butting his chin in the air and said with all the authority he could muster, “Yeah, I know about doors.”
I died laughing.
Later I told her it was time to come in side and she glowered her eyes at me, slowly punched a fist into her other hand and then said in a whisper “If you make me go inside, I’ll pound you, you blockhead.”
So then we put a moratorium on Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin and had a long conversation about kindness and word choices.
It’s so weird how the way you see movies changes drastically when you have kids. I mean, I was all waxing nostalgic about showing Scarlette some of my favorite childhood movies, like Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.
And now I’m like “Why are these kids calling each other stupid all the time? And why is everyone so hateful to Charlie Brown? That little girl just told him it was a mistake that he got an invitation and that he’s not actually invited to the party! And then she called him a blockhead! This is straight-up bullying! Who approved this script?”
Hopefully I nipped that in the bud before she tries it out on the neighborhood kids.
