Joni is in a particularly hilarious stage, given the combination of an amazing imagination and almost no inhibition. Most mornings as I drive her to school, she shares some nugget of wisdom or her current plan. A few of our exchanges from the past few days will give the idea…
1) On ambivalent emotional experiences
Joni: Boogers are the best.
Mom: Why?
Joni: Because they’re yummy. And disgusting. But I think yummy wins.
2) On her career aspirations
This week’s plan for her future is to be a farmer, teacher, and simultaneously run a store that sells only dolls (each for a dollar…yes, a Doll Dollar Store). Recognizing that it will be some time before this career plan can be fully realized, Joni asked if I would please remind her of the plan when she’s grown up.
3) On making sure there’s something for everyone
Her current plan for her birthday party is a butterfly-themed tackle party. She thought through that people would need to tackle in pairs that were relatively matched for size, especially given everyone would be wearing butterfly wings. She also thoughtfully noted that a brief nap would follow the tackling to help the parents.
4) On her inner eye
Joni enjoys playing I Spy. Her most recent turn involved asking me to guess something that was white while we drove in the car. After about 5 minutes of me guessing things I could see, such as snow, her jacket, other cars, etc., she casually announced “I’ve never seen this before in my life.” Turns out we were playing a game of conceptual I Spy, and she wanted me to guess a bunny that is brown in summer and white in winter.
4) On her inner eye
Joni enjoys playing I Spy. Her most recent turn involved asking me to guess something that was white while we drove in the car. After about 5 minutes of me guessing things I could see, such as snow, her jacket, other cars, etc., she casually announced “I’ve never seen this before in my life.” Turns out we were playing a game of conceptual I Spy, and she wanted me to guess a bunny that is brown in summer and white in winter.
