Conversation With A 5-Year-Old…

I love conversations with 5 year olds, especially my 5 year old… maybe because mentally I never got very far past that myself. I wish I could remember them verbatim because some are really funny but I’m not the type to exert too much effort in that direction. When Sofia was 3 and 4 these conversations were funny in a completely different way and I’m sure when she’s 6 and 7, it will continue to change. I realize that I’m not telling parents anything they don’t already know. So we’re at the Red Pooper yesterday and Sofia’s favorite thing is to get hot and sour soup and dip those fried wonton strip thingies into the soup. I’m pretty sure she likes the fried thingies more that the soup but she eats them both, here’s the thingies I’m talking about (she calls them crispies)…

Yesterday while we eating she was fidgeting and wouldn’t stay seated and it’s not so much that I want her to remain seated, perfectly erect, facing forward as much as I realize that if I don’t nip it in the beginning, she’ll be running around the restaurant singing and screaming. So here’s our conversation:
Me: Sugar, sit in your chair.
Her: I am.
Me: No, you’re not.
Her: I am with half my butt.
Me: Well, put your whole butt on the chair.
Her: I am.
Me: No, you’re not.
Her: You can’t even see.
Me: If you don’t sit in your chair and eat, we will stop coming here.
Her: (she sits in the chair perfectly) Oh no, where will I get crispies?
Me: We won’t get any.
Her: We could go to the store and get them.
Me: What store?
Her: I don’t know, what store do they get them? (gesturing to the kitchen)
Me: I don’t know.
Her: Maybe they brought them back from China.
Me: Maybe, but how?
Her: Maybe they put them in their suitcase.
Me: Maybe, but that’s a long way for just a suitcase of crispies.
Her: (stares off for a few seconds) We can go to China and get some.
Me: You know, China is on the other side of the Earth.
Her: We’ll have to drive.
Me: We’re gonna drive to China?
Her: Yes, and we’ll buy some there.
Me: How will we be able to ask for them?
Her: (no response… confused)
Me: We speak English and they speak Chinese so if we ask in English they won’t know what we’re saying.
Her: We’ll just have to look around for them then.
Me: So we just need to take a look around China?
Her: Yup. (very satisfied)
Of course the funniest thing to me is that it seems never to have occurred to her that if she just did what I told her and sat in her chair, then the problem of where to get them wouldn’t exist. This happens with most threats where she immediately wants to explore the worst case scenario instead of simply complying. That’s all for today… wrapping Mom’s presents.

Tags: ceramics, clay, pottery