The Wisdom of Small Humans

One of the more underrated aspects of raising small humans is the watching them learn about life, and then articulate what they have learned by putting their own unique spin on the knowledge they have gained. You just never know what they are going to come up with. Many times you are left shaking your head wondering where they come up with this stuff.

Consider, if you will, the following examples.

Example 1

A couple of weeks ago there was a baby shower at our house. Some of the decorations used were feathers which meant that thanks to our three dynamos there were feathers all over the house for a while. The day after the shower was Sunday, and as we were getting ready for church I heard the six-year-old Zoologist telling the four-year-old Ballerina, “​You are going to go to jail if you take that feather into church." I am not sure what this kid’s obsession is with jail, he seems inordinately worried about jail time for a kid whose biggest crime usually involves to sneaking candy from the pantry. Yes, he knows that they aren’t allowed to take toys into church, but I am not sure where he got the impression that the Miranda Warning was involved.

Example 2

Sometimes, like with jail time for taking a feather into church, kids get the right idea, but somehow they end up taking things to an extreme that you never intended, and definitely never articulated. We have been working with the kids on kindness. Pretty much every day there are encouragements to speak kindly and act with kindness to other people. Sometimes the encouragements are more strongly worded, but when the Ballerina told me, "If somebody isn't kind we are going to take their toys away and break them," I wasn’t sure where she got that from. I have threatened to get rid of toys before, but I don’t remember be kind or I go Hulk on your toys for not being kid ever being a thing.

Example 3

Just yesterday the kids were playing in the living room. They were all playing well, but then the twenty-one-month-old Demolitions Expert banged her head on the wall, and began to cry. That led to this exchange.

Ballerina (running to her sister’s side): I can fix it!
Me: She hit her head on the wall.
Zoologist: That's not something you can fix.

Yep, these are my kids.