Favorite Kind of Kid

I’m getting better at asking for clarification when someone, anyone, asks me a question that I don’t understand.

So when Lyss asked me last night what my favorite kind of kid was, I quipped, “A sleeping one.” Then, after she got over her outrage at the fact that Liv was sleeping and thus must be the favorite, she asked again.

The second time, I took her a little more seriously and said, “I don’t even understand that question.”

She thought about how to clarify it but couldn’t quite figure out how to ask what she wanted to know. She said, “Do you like babies best or little kids?”

Ahh, I thought. I get it.

“No,” I told her. “My current favorite kind of kid is the twelve year old and eight year old varieties.”

She grinned with satisfaction. But then she wanted to know why that as the case.

I returned her smile. “I like the ages you guys are now because you’re way more fun now. Babies are boring and needy. They’re lumps who poop and cry and sleep, or in the case of you and Liv, lumps that poo and cry and I tried to make sleep.”

And honestly, the more I thought about it, it’s all true. I mean, sure, I knew that’s what she wanted to hear but I really do love the ages the girls are right now. They’re independent, they’re self-sufficient (for the most part), they can talk to me and tell me if something is bothering them and they can do fun things like go to movies and restaurants without it being a huge production.

These girls are both as such awesome stages right now. They’re people with thoughts and feelings and worries and imaginations and stories and experiences. They talk to me all the time and while it might get tedious sometimes, most of the time, I marvel at amazing they are, how awesome it is that I’m there to hear their thoughts, their ideas. They’re mine as much as I’m theirs and I like to think that we’re all so very lucky to have each other.