Rambings from my Rugrat...

The things that come out of this kid's mouth amaze me some times. At time she is astute and wise beyond her years. Other times she is just a full - on cynic, poking holes in people's logic and calling a spade a spade. Truth be told, I'm kind of proud of her those times as well. I guess I often see myself in her when she picks up on things and responds with sarcasm. Well, with no further ado, here are some more recent conversations I have had with Miss Grace...

-> Let's start with a sweet story: A few nights ago I told Emma that I had to finish some work on the computer before we got ready for bed. Her response? "Oh Mommy, Mommy! Please don't go! I'll eat you up, I love you so!" Can you guess what one of her favorite books has been lately? Lol. We love Where the Wild Things Are! That just made me bust out laughing and stop to give her a hug! She is too funny!

-> And, while we are on the subject of books, I should probably mention that we often talk about the parts of a book before we read it... as in "this is the front cover, this is the back cover, and this is the spine... They hold the book together!" We also talk about the author, who writes the story, and the illustrator, who draws the pictures. Emma is great with the parts of the book but sometimes gets the author & illustrator mixed up. Not too bad for a 3 year old. So anyway, we were reading the other night and this is the conversations we had...
Mommy: What is this part?
Emma: The front cover!
Mommy: And this?
Emma: The back cover!
Mommy: And what about this?
Emma: The spine!
Mommy: Yep, they hold the book together!
...pause...
Emma: You know Mommy, Miss Johanna calls this part 'the PINE'...
Mommy: No Emma, I think you might have misheard her.
Emma: No, she said its the 'pine.'
Mommy: Emma, seriously, Miss Johanna is your teacher and I am sure she knows that this is called a 'spine.' You must have just misunderstood her.
Emma: Oh really, Mom? Because she thinks my name is Emma MARKEE too! (*phoenetic pronunciation stressed, as she sighed and rolled her eyes*)
Mommy: Wha...?
Emma: And that is NOT my name! Besides, she calls me "Em" when I am making good choices. And I always am making good choices (Side note: "Good choices" vs. "Bad choices" are very important in preschool. Behaving and following directions are apparently awarded with gummi candy as being good choices.)
Mommy: Well, what does Miss Johanna call you when you are making bad choices?
Emma: She calls me Emma Markee.
Mommy: And what do you tell her?
Emma: I tell her that is not how you say my name! I tell her I am Emma Grace MarKWISS! (Marquiss)
Mommy: Okay, and what does she say then?
Emma: Nothing, Mom... I don't think she wants to hear anything when I am making bad choices...

I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry at this conversation. I think it's hilarious and so observant on Emma's part that she was able to come up, on the spot, with a supporting example of her teacher being incorrect with pronunciation. But I am also just so over her preschool. Emma is not being challenged enough her. She brings home "crafts" that are obviously teacher constructed rather than "art" she has created herself. They don't spend enough time on writing skills and, when she does choose to spend her day scribbling, I am told that "she's gonna use up all my paper." etc etc etc. I will be happy when her transfer request finally goes through, even if it does involve a longer drive for us in the mornings...

-> This one is less funny, and more smack-worthy, if she had any idea that she was being such a turd... We were getting ready to go outside and play one afternoon. I told her that I needed to get my shoes on before we went out and asked her to pass them to me. Emma tossed me one flip flop and held the other out for me to slip my foot in. I smiled and asked, "Oh, are you going to help me put my glass slipper on, like Cinderella?" She looked up at me so sweetly and replied, "Yes, like a big long Cinderella shoe for a great big Cinderella with a big ole belly!" Gee thanks kid. I guess the important thing is that I'm still a princess in her eyes, even with my "big ole belly." And while I personally am not offended by her observation, maybe it's time for us to start talking about having a filter on what we say about other people...