Slow down sissy...

I'm sure I've mentioned before that Laurelei is pretty much five going on fifteen, but it's never been more apparent to us than lately. Where do I even begin?

Perhaps I'll start with the scary part of her growing up, boys. Ah, preschool love. Matt and Laurelei had a detailed conversation on the way home from school about it the other day, and they were both excited to fill me in on the details over dinner. From what I gathered I imagine the initial conversation went something like this...

"How was school today?"

"Good. I need to pick a boyfriend."

"Excuse me?"

"There are three boys at school who love me and want to be my boyfriend. I have to pick one to be my boyfriend."

(Stunned silence, a few stifled giggles...yes I'm sure it was giggles)

"I think I'm going to pick soandso. He loves me so much."

"How do you know soandso loves you so much?"

"He tells me I'm beautiful. He thinks I'm really pretty."

Don't worry. As any good mom would do I squashed the whole idea of preschool love real quick.  I was sure to tell her that only big people get to have boyfriends and girlfriends, so she would just have to pretend until she was of a more appropriate age, like 20.

To my surprise her preschool whims have come with a fair amount of wisdom. The other day I was making my very first fabric doll and getting incredibly frustrated. I may have mentioned to Matt that I was about to quit-and-throw-my-sewing-machine-out-the-window and L overheard me. As she scooted up the table she shared her five year old words of encouragement with me.

"Don't quit mommy. You can do it. You can change your story"

"What do you mean?"

"You know mommy, like in Super Why? The duck wanted to swim but he couldn't so he quit. Then Super Why came and changed duck's story and made him not scared and he learned to swim. You can do that too mommy. You can change you story."

I kid you not. I felt about two feet tall. I had been told. By my five year old. I'd like to thank Super Why and the PBS community for teaching my child more important lessons that she has apparently learned from her parents example at home. 

How do they grow so fast? You turn around and your tiny five pound baby is five years old. She is beautiful and smart and ready for the whole wide world. And you pretty much know you had nothing to do with her growing older and you just want to tell her to slow down.