You Have to Know So Many Things

"Don't let them ruin her." -- My kindergarten teacher, talking to my mom.

"It's so hard. You have to know so many things to be a good girl." -- A friend's three-year-old daughter, after he told her why it wasn't a good idea to throw books at people.  (She'd chucked her book at him after storytime, leaving him with a nice bruise or two on his forehead, but I digress.)

Pebbles with cowboy
boots.  What's not to
love?

This three-year-old has been the source of a huge number of wise, insightful, hilarious, and beyond-her-years quotations since she has been able to talk.  Her dad posts them regularly to the internet group which is the only context for our acquaintance.  I've followed her journey since before she was born.  Her parents are marvelous chroniclers, and there have been pictures and stories galore.  I feel as though I know her better than some of the children I've met in "meatspace."

Joy.  Just joy.

  What I've seen in her through all the photos and all the stories and all her amazing quotable quotes is an almost unadulterated joy.  There's a creative spirit in this child that won't quit.  There's a brain that's busy processing All the Things.  All the time. And you have to know so many of them to be a good girl.

I can't remember being three.  Or four.  Or five, really.