I think it was around the time our nephew – who’s now 18 – really began talking when I realized that kids say some truly awesome things. My sister used to call me and repeat some of his gems back to me, and we’d crack up and my heart would melt. At the time I was living three states away, so any little nugget of his personality was worth its weight in gold to me. This continued when our niece was born and I moved closer to home – when her kids had some funny things to say, I’d eventually get a call from my sister or my mom with a full report. I savored their little quotes and looked forward to the day that I’d have my own little font of hilarity, and finally that day has come – big time.
F is now 6 and cracks us up regularly with her thoughts and questions. She is still in full-on pretend mode, so she comes up with some doozies; the other day, she told me that a “fact” was that “flowers have red eyes. IN THEIR PETALS. And that’s how they see other flowers.” Gotcha. She told me she was making cupcakes in the back seat of my car one day and said I could have “chocolate mucus custard” frosting. She calls beef jerky “beef turkey,” sting rays “sting rangers,” and pronounces breakfast “breakfisk.” I hope she never stops.
Wise people like to remind parents how important it is to write the things our kids say down so we don’t forget them, so this is me doing just that. I hope you do too, before you forget. We are so lucky to have this time with our wee ones. I don’t want to forget any of it.