Everyone should have a four year old

Publishing a draft I wrote back in September because it’s hilarious.

Since the moment Caitlyn arrived in our family, life has been more exciting and colorful. She carries exuberance with her everywhere she goes.

She turned 4 recently and I grew a little wistful on her birthday, thinking of how many of her crazy antics she is leaving behind as she matures.

That particular concern was premature.

Today…

…My four year old read the word “jubilant” as “jubboppalooey” with a totally straight face. I encouraged her to look again and sound it out, to which she replied matter-of-factly, “Yeah I did that and I’m pretty sure that is jubboppalooey”.

…My four year old disappeared for fifteen minutes while I was preoccupied feeding her brother lunch. When I wised up and tracked her down, I discovered she was in a closet, with the doors shut and light on, wearing a blanket and not a stitch of clothing. I muffled a laugh and asked what she was doing. “Oh, just getting warm,” she replied casually.

…My four year old emerged from the closet a few minutes later, with that blanket tied around her neck like a scarf. She trooped into the kitchen proclaiming, “I’m like an Indian, Mama! I’m wearing my raccoon!” (As far as I know, there was zero context for this.)

…My four year old wore different colored socks, a clean shirt (third reminder’s the charm!), clashing pants, sparkly shoes, and a big smile to the nursing home to sing for the “grandmas and grandpas”. Apparently despite our conversation on the way over and her repeated commitments NOT to talk about her injury from that morning, she couldn’t contain herself. I overheard her confiding to a very sympathetic octogenarian about her “bleeding toe snag”. Ack.

…My four year old observed as she read through this month’s Friend magazine, “That’s funny that someone’s hiding in that bag, right Mama?”

Those gloves are sort of creepy, I guess. And what is that tiara resting on?

And my personal favorite… My four year old commented on this picture as we read “Babar Saves the Day!”:

“There’s his trunk!”

I replied, “Yes, and all the other luggage.”

She added, thoughtfully, “I didn’t know those could come off.”

Ha! See it?

Yep, everyone should have a four year old. But you can’t have mine. 🙂