Day 1612 - At Least She Doesn't Call Me A Dumbass

Emma is a very inquisitive and curious person.  She's quite the chatterbox around us and isn't afraid to share what she has on her mind for better or worse.  And although there are times when we think she is much older than four, a certain incident will occur that will make us say, "Ah yes.  Emma is only four."

The difference between three and four for me is that kids are able to verbalize their frustration more clearly.  Whereas a three year old would just cry and throw a temper tantrum, a four year can now cry, throw a temper tantrum, and communicate to you how much they dislike cauliflower and that you can shove that scoop of sherbet up your ass. 

A pretty good example of this happened to me when Emma was playing on the iPad.  There's this game called Scribblenauts where you can type in a word, and then it will appear on screen for a character to use.  It's great for the kids because it teaches them how to type, spell, and read.  Already, the kids know how to type "poop", "pee", and "maxipads".

It was Emma's turn with Scribblenauts, and she asked me, "How do you spell GPS?"

So I said, "GPS."

"No.  How do you spell it?" she repeated.

"That's the way you spell it," I explained. "It's just the letters G, P, and S."

"But how you do you SPELL it?" she said with frustration.

I knew where this was going to go, so I tried to take the iPad from her to show her how to type it.  This was a ridiculously bad idea.

"DADDY?  WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she screamed as if I stabbed her Minnie Mouse doll.  "I CAN DO IT MYSELF!  HOW DO YOU SPELL IT?"

"G. P. S."

"I knooooooow that.  Just tell me how to spell it."

I decided to amuse myself.  "I. T."

"Huh?" answered Emma.

"That's how you spell "it".  I. T."  I laughed to myself.

"I don't know what you are saying.  I'm going to go see Mommy," said Emma as she walked away in a huff.

Frankly, I probably shouldn't have amused myself so much with this situation, but if I took it too seriously, I would have gotten just as frustrated and angry as Emma.  And that is never a good combination.  It's like giving Andrew stool softener in his juice and running out of toilet paper.  A bad combination.

It strikes me funny how as an adult, you sometimes accept things without question.  But you look at a four year old with their book on how the world works, and if something doesn't make sense, you have a lot of explaining to do.  I do hope Emma never loses her tenacity or willingness to question something.  But if she asks me how to spell DVD the next time, Mommy better be in the next room.