Kids Say the Darndest Things

"Mom, Hallee gave me something and now she wants it back, and I told her 'no' because that's alien stealing, right Mom?"
"It's what?" I asked thinking I must have misheard him.
"Alien stealing--ya know, when someone gives you something and then wants it back."
"I think you mean 'Indian giving,'" I corrected him with a chuckle. We now remind the children regularly that "alien stealing" isn't nice!

I have to say that I get a kick out of my children's vocabulary on a regular basis. They have such an innocent, personal view of the world, one that hasn't been tainted quite yet, and I find they are truly a hoot! Here are a few more examples:

I was reading a church magazine with my three-year-old next to me. I was reading about Elder Uchtdorf's life and there were pictures of him on the page. She pointed to one of the pictures and said, "Who is that? John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt?" She was very serious. I couldn't help but giggle.

This same three-year-old (who happens to be the life of the party at our house because she thinks she's so grown up and she's very dramatic and hilarious) said to me recently as I prepared her for her first swim lesson. "I don't really need swim lessons, Mom. I already know how to drown. Do you want me to show you? I can teach Boston (our 19-month-old) how to drown, too, if you want, Mom. Do you want me to show Boston how to drown?" I politely declined, chuckling to myself the whole way to swim lessons!

My six-year-old son came home one day from playing at a friend's house. He was telling me about a movie he had watched there. I asked him if the movie was rated PG13, reminding him that he wasn't allowed to watch PG13 movies. He thought for a minute, then answered, "Don't worry, Mom. It wasn't PG13--it was only PGthir." How can a mom hold a straight face at that ingenious answer?

On another occasion, this same child was ranching with Grandpa and his little sister all day. They each had a donut (a ranching tradition), and as Grandpa turned the corner, he said, "Hold on, Regyn" to the little three-year-old. Nate replied, "She is holding on, Grandpa. She's holding on to her donut!"

One of my favorites is something my oldest child, Hallee, said once. I told her how much I loved her. She said the same thing back, so I tried to outdo her, and this little game went back and forth. Finally I said, "I love you to the moon and back," thinking surely I had her this time. Her response caught me off guard when she replied, "I love you to Heavenly Father and back."

I sometimes wish I could look at the world again through a child's eyes. Then maybe all of the stresses that I allow to clutter my life wouldn't seem so big after all. Life would be simple and sweet. At this point, I guess I'll just have to enjoy all of the innocent, funny remarks my children come up with because one thing's for sure--kids say the darndest things!