They are always watching and listening

The title sounds like I am paranoid about aliens but I am not referring to some extraterrestrial nor am I referring to some secret spy network. I am referring to children. Even the most casual conversation is listened to absorbed and processed for some later (usually parentaly embarrassing)moment.

Well on the drive home today I got to listen to how children watching can be very telling as well. You see Izabella keeps telling me she wants to go back to Kindergarten. Like those are "the good old days." You know when you got stickers just for showing up. Now in second grade they actually expect you to do some work and she's not liking the idea. Now I know more is expected of Kindergartners but hearing it from Izabella's point of view you wouldn't think so. So today she again started on her wanting to go back to kindergarten shtick and it was because Alina had gotten a sticker. But after her dance class we are driving home and she pipes up with, "you know I forgot, my teacher once told me that if I stayed in school for a really long time and I went through every grade I could be anything I want to be. So you know what I am going to go on to third grade next year."

I guess my response was not emphatic enough for her because she went on," No it's true mom, if you finish school you can be anything you want even a MOM!!" Then she excitedly turned to Alina and said, "And you can be a farmer Alina!!" Who got really excited by this idea but tried to play it cool by saying, "yeah, I know" She went on to describe the kind of farm she will have, "I will have sheep and cows...." At which point Izabella interrupted to make sure Alina knew what she was getting into, "You know if you have cows you have to milk them EVERY day!! And you know what else? You have to kill your cows too for meat." Alina was silent almost horrified for a minute, but we have not hidden this fact to our kids. So she then says, "I will only kill the grown up cows not the baby ones ok?!" Izabella responds with, "Right because you would only get mini hamburgers if you killed the baby ones." You can probably tell we are not big veal fans.

So I interrupted them a little to let Alina know that there were all kinds of farmers and she didn't have to raise animals for meat. She could just have milk cows or just fruit trees. But the idea of no animals on a farm is like no teeth on a dog to my girls...impossible. So, Izabella comes up with the idea that Alina could have a HUGE dairy farm and DELIVER her milk all over the world.

Alina agreed that it was a good idea and then realized that running a farm that large was a lot of work. so she says, "so, I will need a husband to help out on the farm." And then this is the sage advice Izabella gave to her sister, "Well Alina if you are a stay-at-home mom you will have a lot of work at home. You will do all the work while your husband goes to work at a job. But you see you want him to have a job because you know what? He earns money at his job and you can use that money to buy things. You know for around the house, like sheets. If he doesn't work you will be poor and you won't be able to buy those things...and even clothes will be hard to get."

So Alina being no dummy tried to enlist her sisters help at this hard stay-at-home gig. So she says to Bella, "well then you'd have to help me right Bella?"
Bella responds with a very political noncommittal response of, "Well, I haven't decided where I will live when I am an adult."

I am so touched that to my daughter being a mom is something worthy of being educated for. In today's world it seems too often women are degraded for making the choice to be "just a mom" But to my daughter it is the highest calling. I guess I must be doing something right.