Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Conversation With A 4 Year Old

Laura didn't go to school yesterday because halfway there she informed me she couldn't breathe and needed to do her "machine" (aka nebulizer). Since I understand all too well that awful feeling, we turned around and headed home. Once we got home she used her machine, was revitalized, and a few grey hairs spontaneously appeared on my head.

So today she was very excited to go to preschool, and she kept the chatter going a mile a minute in the car on the way there. As you can imagine, Laura is usually pretty talkative and comes up with some good material. But today was one of her best days. I'll try to relate some of it here, although I simply can't do her justice. Her inflection, thoughtful pauses, and exclamations are some of the best parts.

It started out with Laura rehashing her dislike of Daddy's new truck (it is a stick and goes too fast). Then we moved on to the tiny acorn she had found at school last week, which she was holding in her hand and examining.

Laura: Mommy, what's inside an acorn?

Mommy: Well, I guess-

Laura: Mommy, you know what I'm going to do with my acorn? I'm going to plant it and an acorn tree with grow and then a fox and fox friends, maybe a chipmunk, can come to the tree. They will love it and eat all the acorns.

Mommy: That's very sweet of you Laura. But I'm not sure-

Laura: Oh no, I dropped my acorn! Poor acorn, where are you? Mommy, I can't find my acorn (starts crying). What happened to it? What if Moxie eats it? Pull over and help me find my acorn. I don't want it to be lost forever. Oh wait, I see it. It's on the ground by the door. Can you pick it up for me? Just reach back here and get it!

Mommy: I'll have to get it when we-

Laura: I'm going to be a mermaid when I grow up. You and Daddy can be mermaids too. I love mermaids and I can't wait to be one. We will swim around and be beautiful. I love mermaids so much. Where do mermaids live Mommy? Can my friends be mermaids too?

Mommy: Giving up and murmuring politely

Laura: Did I tell you that I'm going to turn into a butterfly? I will be very shiny and pretty. It will be hard to change into a butterfly because it is very tricky. All of my friends will be butterflies too and we will fly around. No boys though. I will be the queen and my friends will be the princess butterflies. We will have so much fun and play games. I can't tell you what game though because it's a secret.

Mommy: Wait, what? A secret?? You can tell me because I'm your Mommy. You can tell me anything.

Laura: (Very solemnly) No Mommy, sorry. It's a secret.

And cue the grey hairs.

10 comments:

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

Adorable post! My daughter and I have these conversations too! I try and write them down so I can use them when she's a teen and her dates come over..hee hee hee...

Love the acorns, mermaids and butterflies! How cute is she????/

Anonymous said...

Love your blog and especially this post! Your daughter is adorable! I've forwarded you on to my mom for a read and a smile this morning as well. Thanks! Oh and congrats on being saucy SITSta!

The Farmers Wife said...

Our daughters must be related in some way, lol. My 3 year old chatters in much the same way. You can never get a word in edgewise. Girls are great though! Cute blog!
Vising from SITS

Mommy of M's said...

OMG, I think I have the male version of her!! I swear we have conversations just like that. Half the time I have no clue what he says I just smile and nod. I gave up a long time ago of trying to make sense of his ramblings!!

Thanks for the laugh

Anonymous said...

LMAO. Is being a mermaid better or worse than being a fairy? My husband was informed (by my four year old dd) that he could be a fairy. "Because boys can be fairies and you will love it!"

I'm she's the one from BBC.

Paging Doctor Mommy said...

I have similar conversations with my little girl! Aren't they just so much fun! I never had a grey hair until I got pregnant with her... now they are everywhere and she's not even three!

Its Me(SARA) Behind the Camera said...

AWW what a priceless blog!!! Your daughter is so cute! :)

LOVE how lil kid's minds work! :)

This Little Hen said...

stopping by from SITS.... I can only imagine that my little princess will keep be on my toes and in the salon to cover the gray as soon as she can talk! Thanks for the laugh!

Jared said...

That was very cute, Claire. I must say though, if she is only 4 and has secrets, just wait until she is 17! hah!

Cue more grey hairs! :-p

Three Dog Days said...

I don't think a screen writter could have written a better conversation. Be sure to tell Laura I used to be a butterfly until a bad wizard captured me. A good wizard might turn her into a butterfly someday!