Kid-speak

Several years ago, when I was in college, I spent a summer working in a preschool in my hometown. I was in the two year old room which provided many laugh-out-loud moments throughout the months I was there.

One morning in particular stands out in my mind.

One of the students, a little boy, had an amazing memory. He could look at a map of the US and point out all 50 states and tell you their capitols. It was really impressive. This is usually how he filled his mornings before everyone got there and the day began. He did it so much that by the end of the summer I could recite them all from memory without looking at a map.

Each morning he'd sit down with the map and begin to recite everything he knew. It didn't matter if anyone was listening. He just liked to do it. But often the other students would watch him for a few minutes to see if they could beat him to North Carolina.

For the most part he didn't need any help, but once in a while he would get confused and have to ask which state was which.

This was one of those mornings. He got to a state and asked, "Miss S! Which state is this?" I looked over his shoulder and replied, "Oh. That's Utah."

At which point another student, a little girl who'd been watching the whole thing, assumed an air of complete offense and said, "Hey! I'm tall too!"

Ba-dum-bum

I didn't laugh right away. I just told her that she was indeed tall too and walked away to turn my back and laugh. She wasn't tall. She was the shortest kid in the class. But she didn't know that and that's the only thing that matters.