Miscommunication

I don't think I've ever been taken so aback by a child's comment before.

When I still worked at the Child Center, I was talking to this 7 year old and we were quizzing each other on the capitals of the United States. Then we moved on to capitals of countries. This kid knew everything! He even knew the capital of Iceland and Kyrgyzstan. I'll admit it, Jeff Foxworthy- I am NOT smarter than a fifth grader.

His little brother came up and was listening to us. We ran out of countries and then, being silly, the 7 year old asked,

"What's the capital of your body?"

"My heart," I said.

"Wanna know what the capital of MY body is?" chimed in the little brother. He must have been 4 or 5, and no lie, he said,

"My tentacles!" I had to do a double take. That is NOT what I heard!

"You're WHAT?!" I said.

"My tentacles!" he repeated. I heard it correctly that time, I wasn't sure I wanted to know what he meant... After the shock of a comment like that coming out of a child that young wore off, I told my co worker and we died laughing

Spock

For the summer, I am working as a summer camp counselor for preschool age kids. I know I shouldn't have favorites, but I do. One of my very favorite kids, Jack, is a child prodigy. This kid is one of the most articulate and clever 4 year olds I've ever met. He often comes to camp with an encyclopedia and a new geographic fact or science experiment.

The most out of the blue thing he has ever done was when we were on the bus heading home from the Phoenix Children's Museum (which is fantastic by the way). As he was getting off the bus, he stopped and turned to the bus driver and told him to "live long and prosper" with the hand gesture and everything. I almost fell off the steps of the bus I was laughing so hard.

Feminism These Days...

You can often discover quite a bit about parents through their children...

I was tying a little boy's shoes one day and he was telling me all about how cool his new shoes were. I asked him if they made him run super fast. He said yes and then very proudly he said,

"And they make me jump like a WOMAN!"

Shaped like Five

At work, a little girl excitedly came up to me and caught me quite off guard with her comment about her body type.

Girl- "Hey teacher, guess what!"

Me- "What?"

Girl- "I'm three, but I'm shaped like FIVE!!"

It was especially funny because she really was tall and big boned for her age.

Starting 'Em Young

It is sad to see how society's obsession with body type and weight is affecting some children. There were two little girls I worked with that would go around and point out who was "fat" and who was "pretty." It was heartbreaking to have the other kids come up crying, saying the girls had called them "fat" that day. It eventually got so out of hand that the girls were commenting on the weight of the moms and dads as well as the kids. Now we had parents as well as children taking the comments to heart and refusing to come in when the girls were there.

Women naturally obsess with their bodies, but we desperately need to monitor what we say around children. Since we are bigger than them, children look up to us. If it is important to us, it'll be important to them. Don't ever forget that as a parent or guardian, you are the most important and most admired person in your child's life. Be someone they can look up to. They will mimic your behaviors, so behave accordingly.