CityMama™

Sometimes wishes need helpers

"Mamma, what's 'prophetic' mean?" asked Bunny yesterday.

She heard it in a movie, but I love that she is a word freak. I remember being royally pissed off when my older (12-year-old) cousin told me (7-years-old) that I "wasn't allowed to use a word unless I knew what it meant." I tattled on him to my mom who was driving us home at the time and she replied, "He's right." Boy, that was a grumpy ride home for second-grade-me.

But he was right and I encourage the asking of questions in my house.

"It means that you think or know that something might come true." I tried to put it into terms that Bunny would understand.

Bunny thought about it for a second."You mean like wishes?"

"Yes, like wishes."

"But wishes don't come true," she stated. "Wishes are not prophetic."

At that moment I wondered why these conversations always seem to happen in a car. I suppose there is something non-threatening about making these declarations to the back of an adult's head rather than to her face.

I decided to tread lightly.

The Kindergarten Way

Bunny has decided that, in kindergarten, girls and boys just can't get along. Oh sure, boys can maybe sit next to girls at lunch (like one particular boy she talks about regularly who seems to have a reprieve), but only if they are "silly."  Other than that, girls just "don't like boys." It's just better to keep the two groups separate.

Which is a shame, because there are some adorable and sweet boys in her class, and I so would like to invite them for playdates and things. As it stands, in Bunny's world at the moment, playdates are strictly girl-on-girl action. (hee!) And that's alright.

I'm starting to realize (thanks to kindergarten) that playdates with their anticipation and excitement of sharing your world with a new friend—and then even with the conflicts that may arise and the resulting problem-solving—are the earliest and purest forms of community-building.