The Small Sponge

     Children are like sponges.  They arrive into this world pretty much a blank slate.  They know nothing except from whence they came and what their mission here is.

     We quickly begin to clutter that with all sorts of things we think we know about how life here on planet earth works.  They listen and they soak it up, stashing this new information into their grey matter, for use at a later date.

     I have enjoyed both of these scenarios with our youngest grandchild.  Once, when she, I will refer to her as I have done in the past as Ms. Sassafrass, was just beginning to take her first steps, there was a young girl, about the age of six, lying on the floor in front of her.  The older girl had no intention of moving out of Ms. Sassafrass' way.  While her mother and I watched, an expression crossed this baby's face that one might expect to see on a girl in junior high school.  It was full of contempt and was followed by her reaching out her small arm and taking a swipe at the older girls' hair. Ms. Sassafrass' mother was in total disbelief, Sassafrass wasn't even a year old, where did that come from?!

     Sassafrass is now four years old and has been surrounded by boys her entire life.  I don't care who you are, I don't care what measures you have taken to raise your children, but if you have boys, you have heard more conversations about body parts, or their accompanying functions, than you probably ever thought possible.  Ms. Sassafrass has not been excluded from this odd rule of thumb that seems to be second nature to the male species. Not only has she picked up some of the lingo, she knows when to use it.

     The other day as she and her family where riding in their truck,  Ms Sassafrass was entertaining her older brother with some of her new learned phrases.  Her mother had heard enough, turned around in her seat and began to explain to Sassafrass that the words she was using were not appropriate.  That it was not nice or very 'girl like' to talk that way and she wanted it to stop.

     Silence endued for the next ten seconds and as Ms. Sassafrass rode along, gazing out the window, she spoke these words..........
"Shut your pie hole, tree!"