Six Going on Sixteen

Sort of like the song from The Sound of Music with skipping a decade. All of the common phrases dotting her diction always made Katie, one of the kids who I babysit, seem older than her true years. However, it wasn't until she uttered the phrase "yeah, that's some serious false advertising" when I pointed out that her guinea pig's "non-drip" water bottle was leaking that the comical nature of this fact truly manifested itself. What six-year-old knows about "false advertising"? Her favorite word, hands down, is "whatever" and her favorite phrase is "so what, who cares?". Today, when I mentioned to her that she was about to be the main character in my blog because of her attitude, she folded her arms, raised one eyebrow and said, "ugh, that is SO not true!" Of course, I instantly pointed out that what she just said completely validated my point. When I ask her what she did in school she just says "oh, stuff" and when I ask her to do things she says "yeah, whatever, I will!" with a prissy attitude. I actually love it.

Little Diva

Her older brother, eight-year-old Diego, is also mature beyond his years but in different ways. He actually out-grammared me the other day, which, for anyone who knows me well, is quite difficult to do. Out of the blue in the car, he spouts out "hm, Sunday is a compound noun. Did you know that?" and I said that I did, and that I was tremendously impressed that he did as well. Then we began listing other compound nouns, and he said "toilet paper," and just as I began correcting him in saying that it was not a compound noun because it was two words he retorted that yes, it was- it is an uncompounded compound noun. Man that kid is good.

These kids are also some of the first that don't go haywire for macaroni and cheese. Unlike other kids, they do not beg and plead for me to whip up a box of cheesy pasta or to take them to a restaurant serving mac n' cheese. Instead, they beg for fish tacos, Vietnamese pho or Indian food. They also don't miss a beat when hearing songs on the radio. They called me out when a band said "crap" during a song, and Katie's inquisitive nature perked up when she heard the singer from Cake mention that he wants a girl who wants "a car with a cup-holder armrest."She couldn't understand why a man would seek out that trait in his ideal woman.

They do love their dessert, watching cartoons, staying up late, reading comics and playing video games. They hate brushing their hair and bathing and doing chores. So, I suppose they are not fully little adults just yet. Give it a couple more years. Or whatever.