Kids say (and do!) the cutest things! Art Linkletter knew this and made a career of it. Their fresh take on things and their unique view and fuzzy interpretation of a confusing world is a source of fond amusement for adults, myself included.
My three-year-old granddaughter, now almost 4, loves her “coca-dot” dress and likes to eat “cretzels.” Her precocious little friend, a year or two older, was playing at her house and saw her “Jessie” cowgirl doll from Toy Story lying on the floor. It was completely undressed, and the well-brought-up little boy took the doll to his mother, shoved it in her face and declared, “INAPPROPRIATE!”
She has a 19-month-old sister who is watching her as a role model, doing everything she can to keep up. Big sister had been trying to jump rope on a video her father made of his prodigies, when Daddy asked her to sing. She began whirling and warbling, swinging her rope, when the baby, grabbing the other end of the rope, began singing into the jump rope handle, using it as a microphone, swaying and belting out unintelligible phrases.
When my own were little, they made me laugh all the time (sometimes you had to laugh to keep from crying). My five-year-old daughter came to me one day and said, “Mama, can I watch Family Few (Feud)? There’s nothing else on but soap offers.” (Her older brother called them “Soda-poppers.”)
When that same brother was a pre-schooler, one day I heard him singing his version of “Jesus Loves Me”. He rendered it, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so; N-B-Y, between-y slow, I am weak but He is strong.” He’s middle age now, but he’s still creative in music!
Once when I was in school I saw one of my younger brother’s spelling papers where he had to use “literature” in a sentence. He had written, “Our dog had a literature of pups.” I’m sure the teacher smiled at this, whether she smiled on his grade or not.
Confused or not, they will get it straight sooner or later. The pre-readers will become readers, and their world will widen beyond anything they now comprehend. In the book of Jonah, God had pity on the city of Ninevah, in which there were more than 120,000 who did not know their right hand from their left. Was this just an expression for people in darkness, or were there that many innocent children there? Either way, God was concerned and wanted Jonah to preach to them. Our children are a mission field. They will likely never be more receptive to the knowledge of God’s love than they are now. Let’s make the most of it!
Every time I see the word "literature" from now on, I will think of your brother and a litter of pups (or vice versa). Too funny!
ReplyDeleteI watched the video of Jamie's little girls; they are precious. I keep forgetting that all the children I remember,such as Jamie, are actually grown with families of their own now.