A 4 yr. old's thoughts......

Hope is going through a phase. If you are a parent, you know this phase (At least I hope I'm not the only one). The one where your kid says whatever pops into their head, like, "Goodbye Mr. Potato Head" to the police officer.

I have been running errands like crazy lately (Lowes, electrical supply store, lumber store, etc) and these outings always give Hope multiple opportunities to say whatever is on her mind to whomever she meets.

She asked one guy if the mole on his face was a heart ("howt").
She told a man that he looked like Spiderman with a beard.
To the guy working at Lowe's she said, "You have a ring, so that means you can kiss on the lips."
She asked the lady (?) at Walmart if she (he?) was a man or a lady.
She told the man at the electrical supply store, "You are a beautiful boy."

She told our realtor, "You're a boy, so you have cooties."

I am constantly "shhh"-ing her, telling her to whisper her thoughts to me instead. But apparently she keeps forgetting.

There is a little girl, 6 years old, who goes to physical therapy with Ava, who was born with a facial deformity. I panicked when I saw Hope across the room last week, in her face, staring, asking questions. Not having any idea what to say, I ran over and apologized to her and her mother for the intrusion. The mom said, "I don't mind at all. She is just asking innocent questions. We welcome innocent questions."

So I sat down with Hope and we talked to the little girl about why one of her eyes was much smaller and lower than the other, why she didn't have a left ear and why only one of her eyes moved back and forth (she had a glass eye, which they called a "teddy bear eye"). My anxiety began to diminish as the little girl and her mother cheerfully answered all of our (Hope's) questions. Pretty soon, Hope was touching the girl's face, saying, "Your eye is so cute", and "You have beautiful hair". And pretty soon the two girls were playing together as if they had always been the best of friends.

And as I'm typing up this post, John just told me that my nephew, Sebastian, same age as Hope, said to him tonight, "Uncle John, I don't like you!!" I guess if you ever want an honest opinion.....ask a 4 yr. old!