An orange is an orange
Cookie: “Do you know a lot of things?”Dandy: “Maybe.”Cookie: “Can you tell me, why is an orange orange?”Dandy did what any modern parent would do— turned to Google!Google: “Orange as a color adjective dates from the early 16th century; therefore, we can say that the orange is called orange because it is orange, and orange…
Gift of Giving
Cookie: “Tell me a story.”Dandy: “I’m tired, Cookie. Go to sleep.”Cookie: “I’m going to do nothing for you. I will not find a special rock, use the hose, clean it, and make it a present. Nothing for you.”Dandy: “Hey, I give you treats too. How about that?”Cookie: “It’s not the same. Those are from the…
Possibilities
Cookie: “Dandy, do boys wear hairclips?”Dandy: “No, but you can wear one if you like.”Cookie: “Which one is a boy one?”Dandy: “I like the one on the left.”Cookie: “I would like the one with the BALL on it!”Now, every time Dandy looked at the hairclip on the left, Dandy couldn’t help but think, “I picked…
Boundaries need a voice
Dandy: Cookie, one day can I take a tiny bite out of you? Please?Cookie: If you do that you will never see me again. Only my wires will show. They will be stuck to my bones. The playful innocence in this conversation reminds me how deeply children can connect to their imagination, and how that…
Mistakes are STUPID
Cookie: Dandy, one of my friends is really stupid.Dandy: Why?Cookie: I just tried to break an airplane, but she broke it for REAL! Who does that? A stupid person, right? Dandy paused, unsure how to navigate this. Was Cookie trying to shift the blame? Maybe. But more than that, it was a moment for Dandy to consider how to respond without…
Humor your troubles
Sometimes I think kids just need an excuse to come up with fart jokes. And they laugh way more than we do! Did you know that children laugh an average of 300 times a day, while adults only manage about 15-20? No wonder we have more digestive issues than they do—just saying. I wouldn’t be…