APPLE JUICE!

Last week we went down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for spring break with another family.  It was a great week of swimming in the pool, the ocean, and the ocean channel behind our rental house.  We had pretty good weather, and a great view behind the house

our view for the week!

Our kids got along great, even though they had never met before.  Luckily, the kids were close in age.  My girls are 7 and 9 years old, and the two other girls are 8 and 4.  The 4 year old, who I'll call C, was the kind of little girl that makes a mom like me want to have another little girl.  She's a tiny little thing, who talks a mile a minute. I discovered her sentences were very well thought out and complex, but sometimes it was hard to understand what she was saying.  When we first met her at the airport, we couldn't understand a word she said.  But by the end of the week, my girls could understand every word perfectly.

C would talk to me and try to tell me things, but most of the time I couldn't understand what she was saying.  I would ask her Mom for a translation. Sometimes even her Mom would just shrug her shoulders and admit that she had no idea what C was saying.  I found that when C really wanted you to know something, her words became quite clear.  The child loves apple juice and would call out for it several times a day. "APPLE JUICE!" C would exclaim, to anyone who was listening.   Another of her favorites was, "PASTA!"  But my favorite was one afternoon when all the kids had to get out of the pool, she was looking at her Mother and said, "I'M NOT HAPPY!" Everyone understood that C was upset, no questions asked.  This little girl at age 4 knows exactly what she wants, and has no problems telling you about it.  I hope she never loses her assertiveness! Sometimes don't we all just need to say what we want, very plainly, so that everyone understands?