Hannah-isms

"Big-year-old" - I think this is anyone over the age of 5, but not quite a grown-up.
Usage: "Babysitting a big-year-old is a lot different than watching a baby." (see below)

Another awesome Hannah statement came about last night. The good ones seem to happen when Hannah should be sleeping, but isn't. So, again, Hannah was having trouble sleeping, this time due to some anxiety about something that happened several months ago. We were talking through it (again) and I must have said something about learning more as we get older, because Hannah's much more memorable response was, "But I'm 6 now. I don't need to learn anything else. (sniffing and wiping more tears) I already know about digits and consonants and vowels..." I tried to control my expression, and confessed that I'm 30 and I still have tons to learn. She whirled to look at me, mouth agape, with purely innocent shock and unbelief on her face. It was adorable! I did my best not to laugh out loud, but I fell a bit short of the mark. So I proceeded to teach her the Socratic truth (or was it Aristotle?) that the more we learn, the more we realize how much we don't know yet. I'm pretty sure she got it.

Then, this morning Hannah started talking about Auntie Nancy, quite out of the blue. Let me preface this moment by saying that Auntie Nancy watches Hannah on Tuesdays while I go to class. Not always a happy day for Hannah, because Mommy is gone till after bedtime, so I told Hannah several weeks ago that one of the reasons why Nancy likes watching her is that it's good practice for whenever Nancy and Will have kids of their own. So this morning, while we're driving to daycare, Hannah says, "You know, Mommy... if Nancy wants to babysit, then she should find someone that needs to be watched every day. Because it's really different than watching a kid just one day. Cuz if she has her own kids then she'll have to have control every day, not just on Tuesdays. Plus, watching a big-year-old is different than having a little baby. And when she has kids, they'll be babies at first. Well, I guess she gets to watch babies sometimes, too... but maybe she should find a baby that she can watch every day...." These are the times when I sit back, don't comment, and just listen to her pontificate. It's generally quite interesting, albeit longwinded. Luckily we pulled up to her daycare just a few minutes later, so the "discussion" had to be cut short. I said something like, "I'm sure Nancy will do just fine, but that's nice that you're thinking of her." Something to indicate that I'd been listening and to show my encouragement for compassionate concern, and then promptly end the conversation so that she can go to her classroom and I can head to work.

Good times... and enlightening, as always.