“You’re going to throw a party for me?”
“Yes we are…for your seventh birthday.”
“But that’s not for months.”
“I think your concept of time is…well, not skewed so much as it’s striking me as age-appropriate.” (Think about it, fifteen minutes is an eternity for these things! I mean, children.)
Annie spoke up, “Lyd, you turn seven in two weeks.”
Her eyes grew (she’s not entirely sure how long two weeks is) She gasped, (nope, “two weeks” is an abstract term right now). “That means they will all stop making fun of me!” (and she’s not interested in how long two weeks is. It’s shorter than months, that’s fine by her at the moment.)
“Making fun of you? For what?” Now, don’t get me wrong, I listen to these stories of Lyd’s every time she mentions it. “made fun of me” is a statement that will always get my attention. However, I know my daughter and I know she has a flair for the dramatic. I listen, and I pretty much always expect it to be something less than what she is portraying.
“Because I’m six.”
Annie finished her bite of supper, “They made fun of you for being six?” Now we are truly listening, Lydia’s in a multi-age class, there’s a distinct possibility of age-based cliques forming. Knowing the way her teacher runs things and knowing the general good nature of her classroom, it’s not likely, but it could still happen.”
“Yeah, I was talking about how I’m going to be seven soon. And they said ‘But you’re still six’”
“And?”
“And that was it.”
“Okay then. I’m not entirely sure they were truly making fun of you Hun. Is it possible you were making this more than it actually was?”
“Yeah.”
“And you are still six. Right?” Sure, I could inquire more into this. But I won’t. I am pretty certain this is another misinterpretation on her part.
Her chin touched her chest, “Right.”
“But you are practically seven!”
The chin was no longer touching the chest! “I know! Woo! Hoo!” She paused and thought about my statement, “What is ‘Practically’?”
(hmm, good one) “Practically means so close to something that it might as well be that something. You are so close to turning seven, that you might as well be seven despite only being six.”
“That’s what I’ll tell them!”
“Tell them what?”
“Tell them that I am practically seven!”
“Sure! That ought to keep their teeth together!”
Supper wrapped up. We all watched a little TV together. My alarm went off, “Girls! Hear that? Lyd? You and your sister need to pick up your toys.”
“Daddy? I think a lot of the toys are picked up, the room is PRACTICALLY clean!”
(really?) I gave her a very tired looking smile, I ignored her remark and went on, “Then, when the room is not-so-practically cleaned up, I want you to run upstairs and get your teeth brushed.”
“Dad, I ate an apple earlier. They help clean teeth. My teeth are PRACTICALLY clean already.”
Annie replied to this one, “If you don’t get upstairs and brush your teeth, I will PRACTICALLY pinch your butt!” Lydia giggled and ran upstairs. Annie looked at me, “I hope you’re happy. We’ll be hearing a lot of this new word over the next week.”
“Practically speaking, you might be right! Ow!”