Kids say the darndest things!
June 10th, 2008
So, I work with kids between the ages of 0 and 12. I spend some time with them as I drive them to visits they have with their parents. (The kids I work with are living in some form of out-of-home placement.) The other day at work I was driving a six-year-old girl to the office to see her mom. I had just reminded her that I had to eat all the time because there’s a baby growing in my tummy. This six-year-old girl, who I’ll call Emily (not her real name), proceeded to tell me that my baby’s having a lot of fun in my tummy. This made me smile, which was great, because I’m not super fond of this girl. Don’t get me wrong, I adore a lot of the kids I work with, but some just get on your nerves more than others. She is one of those kids. Anyway, she continued:
Emily: I had a lot of fun in my mommy’s tummy, too.
Me: Oh yeah?
Emily: Yeah! I remember.
Me: You do?
Emily: Yeah, want to know why?
Me: Why?
Emily: ‘Cause I was trying to catch all the food my mommy ate like this…
(She then made chomping noises as she tilted her head upwards and moved it back and forth, pretending to catch food that was randomly falling from above.)
I realize that my description may not be doing her performance justice, but this was absolutely hysterical and had me laughing so hard I cried. She looked very pleased with herself that she had gotten me to laugh so hard. I’ll never forget the image of her showing me how she chomped in utero, and just how great her interpretation was of how fetuses are fed. More than anything, it was great to have a positive exchange with this girl whom I struggle to open my heart to.
Photo credit here (The girl pictured is not the girl referred to in the story.)
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