Kids Say The Darndest Things...

The other night, my daughter Riley and I were watching TV. She got up and said, "Let's turn off the TV."

"Okay," I said.

"So," Riley said, settling down on the couch, "Tell me about your childhood."

I fought to manage my facial expressions; Riley does not like being laughed at for being cute. She wants to be taken seriously. She's four, for God's sake.

"Well," I replied, "I spent a lot of time during the summers at Clearwater Park; my uncle camped there over the summers and I hung out with him and my cousins, while my mom and dad worked during the day."

"I already know that," she said, exasperated.

"Sorry, but it was a significant part of my childhood. Why don't you tell me about your childhood?" I put the ball back in her court.

"Mom," she tweened at me, "I'm still in my childhood."

My goodness! That's a very interesting thing for a pre-schooler to say. I continued my questioning...

"Well, then, what has been your favorite part of childhood so far?"

"Um," she thought, "I really like going to Clearwater too."

******

The other night, Madame E and the Big E were over. We had put the kids to bed and were hanging out in the living room. We worried that we might be talking too loudly and wake the children. Well, speak of the devil: we heard this chant from Lucy:

"I wanna watch television!...Momma...Daddy...I wanna watch television!"

Not TV. Television.

Eventually she calmed down and we made our way to the Lodge, where we could talk and not wake the kids.