The Guileless Mind of a Three-year Old

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but the three-year old stage is a favorite of mine.  Their thought process is pure and unpretentious.  They don't quite understand literal vs. figurative speech, and mimic the expressions of older people.  In other words, the things they come up with are so adorable to me!  Here's a handful of Arden's recent naivete's that I treasure.    

Arden is the type to argue with you until she's blue in the face if she feels she's right.  Arden argued with me a few weeks ago about what day it was.  "Mommy what day is it?"  "Sunday."  "No it's not," she argued.  "Yes it IS," I insisted.  We bantered back and forth a few times with me wondering why she was so adamant about it not being Sunday.  She exclaimed, "But it's dark outside!  There's no sun!"

On Christmas Eve Arden experienced probably what every poor Houstonian kid has ever experienced .... the realization that we don't have Christmases that look like the movies.  I'm not sure where Arden got the notion from, but at the very instant she cut the last day off her Advent calendar, she raced to the window to see the SNOW.  "Mommy, it's Christmas now!!!!  It's snowing outside!" she said as she craned her neck to see the sky.  To her utter shock and disappointment, it was still the same hot, muggy weather we'd had all month.  Poor thing, she was so upset because she waited 24 days to see snow.  My heart wanted to break.  No White Christmas here.

Her new word this week is actually.  This is her go-to word when she wants to make a point.  "Actually, I need to get my shoes on."  "Actually, I want to play outside."  She loves to use the word even if it means it being used in the wrong context.  "Mommy I need to go actually to the bathroom."

Arden also likes to say "I have a quick question for you."  "Sure!" I said the first time, surprised at how polite and grown-up she sounded.  She then proceeded to TELL me something rather than ask.  "Jack is in his room and he's playing."  (After a week of this I feel pestered by all of those unstated questions hanging out there in limbo.  Must be my OCD kicking in.)

And tonight, "Take a picture of me!"  she demanded while I was playing with my phone.  "No," I corrected, "Will you please take a picture of me?'"  Arden replied, "Ok, then give me the camera so I can take a picture of you."  Jeez, what am I going to do with her?  All I could do was shake my head and say cheese.