When I was four and my brother was six, we had a long flight on Pan Am. He got the little pilot’s wings from the flight crew, and because I was a girl, I got stewardess wings from the cabin crew. Not that I’ve held on to that for 58 years or anything. (I’m glad they went out of business.)
Kids are really fun, though. I never realized that before I had one of my own. You just have to realize that they’re complete people, only with very little filter, and that you can simply talk to them without a lot of regard for social niceties.
That one doesn’t work for me. It embarrassed me when I repeated things told and got made fun of or even just corrected by other kids or adults. Things people damn well knew weren’t true, but told me because I was a kid and they were trusted adults, and it was funny to them to make me sound like an idiot. Or to show I was an idiot - your mileage may vary there. Telling innocent people something wrong in order to make them believe falsehoods to amuse yourself is just a crappy thing to do, IMO.
Jonah was about 5 and was with his large Amish family who were working on new construction at a girls camp up north. Amos his Dad is an artisan with wood joinery. I was amazed to see his daughters, in long dresses wearing bonnets but barefoot up on the roof hustling with materials.
Jonah otoh completely blew me away when I saw him operating the hi-lo that carried materials up to the roof! Seriously this babyfaced little boy barely 5 years old was a pro at the controls. He used hand signals to communicate with his dad on the roof.
Not then. I was finishing up my meal and I became aware that a boy at the next table was watching me. He finally whispered something to his mother, who turned around and looked at me. I smiled at them and she came over to tell me that her son thought I was Santa Claus. (I’m not sure why Santa Claus would be having lunch in a Cracker Barrel in Georgia during the summer, but I guess it’s possible.)
My new wife’s daughter has adorable twin foster kids about to turn 1yo. Daughter just sent us vids of the little girls trying to bottle-feed themselves in tandem.
They totally get the idea of holding the bottle. They totally get the idea the nipple end goes in their mouth. They’re struggling with coordination, but it’s working unsteadily. But they’re mostly lost on the idea that the bottle must be tipped up so the nipple is at the low end, not the high end. Those darn plastic bottles with a few ounces of formula are heavy; really, really heavy.
Comedy gold. Adorable comedy gold. Plus all the joyous & frustrated squealing. I could watch that over and over. In fact I have. :squee:
:squee: