The Four Year Old Filter... or Lack There Of

Heaven help me. I have a four year old. I love her more than words can say. She is lively, smart, cute, beautiful and all those good things.

Some days... the four year old (lack of) filter makes me wanna crawl in a whole and die -- dramatic? I get that from my four year old.

Like a few weeks ago, my neighbor came over. While we were chatting, Gwenyth walks up to my neighbor, presses on her belly and says, "What do you HAVE in there?"


I. Was. Mortified.

My neighbor had the BEST reaction. Without pause, with the biggest smile, she replied, "That is where I keep my giggles!" Brilliant. Brilliant I say!

Thank goodness, my neighbor has small children. She knows. She understands.

I know Gwenyth meant no harm. She was clueless and just very curious. So, how do we teach our young ones about filters? Is is just setting the example? It is just a conversation after the fact? I don't want her to think that curiosity and questions aren't a good thing.

Any advice or funny lack of filter stories welcome and encouraged in the comments!

In the mean time, I'm gonna show off my beautiful girl : )

She loves coloring and drawing. What a coincidence! So do I...

That sweater was hand knit by my sister-in-law's mother. My SIL wore it when she was little. Gwenyth (and I) LOVE it. She's going to grow out of it very soon. A sad day that will be.

This is her third pair of sparkle shoes. She'll wear sparkle shoes when she's 30, right?
My photography tip for today doesn't have to do with anything technical. It's just a reminder to photograph the special details of life (like clothes and shoes). Get your subject in the action of doing the things they love to do. I never want to forget what her little hands looked like when she held crayons. I want to remember how well loved and worn her sparkle shoes were.

Those things you think you won't forget... record them!

12 comments:

  1. Zoey recently asked someone, who has been struggling to get pregnant, when they were going to have a baby. I was horrified and quickly told her that we don't ask that question. Being the ever curious 4-year old she asked why we don't ask that question. I simply said - we just don't!

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    1. "We just don't." Or "That's just how it is." Those seem to be the only answers sometimes! And seriously, I know plenty of adults that need that whole child bearing question filter...

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  2. Ah, filters! Not long ago we were somewhere public and a very large gentleman was walking slowly by. I still hope he was out of earshot (he didn't look back, so I'm hoping), but very loudly Bethany says, "Mom, that is a very big man!" What do you say? Depending on the situation, we tell the girls that while it's important to talk and share our feelings, sometimes some thoughts need to stay in our head. They seem to get it... Until the next time!

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    1. Oh goodness! Yes, how to get the balance of sharing and talking and keeping things in our heads. It's one of so MANY battles think they get one minute and five minutes later, I am found wrong.

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  3. maybe I'm just tired today but your photography tip brought tears to my eyes--you're right! Record all the little stuff! Like when my almost three year old colored her entire face with a blue marker last night. Entire. Face. Blue.

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    1. HAHAHAAA! Funny because I've been there. I have photos of Gwenyth COVERED in paint... even lifted her shirt to paint her belly. Also funny, because it's your kid and not mine ; )

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  4. I love this story - I love the photos - I love Gwenyth, Reuben, Chris, and Mike.

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  5. my siter's dog, sheesh, has been having spinal problems and (not to mention) is getting old. my children are aware of this because we see her and her dog often. we ran into my sister recently at her workplace and molly marched right up to her and asked, "so is sheesh dead yet?" void of all emotion and completely nonchalant as if she were asking her what her favorite color is or something. and no, this wasn't from a three-year-old, but a seven-year-old. on the upswing, my sister wasn't offended - she thankfully thought it was hilarious.
    whenever either one of my children are like this, i usually tell them what they could have done differently, whether it was verbage or emotion or tone. and i also constantly have to remind myself that i'm not dealing with adults - they're children. they're not always going to get it the first time after the fact (or the second time & so on). just remembering that has truly helped so much!

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  6. Stories like this make me wonder when death becomes a sensitive or taboo issue? Gwenyth talked about Trooper (that we put down months ago) so casually too. Anyway... you are spot on. Constant reminders of their age and brain capacity are about the only thing that gets me through the day sometimes!

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  7. Oh my lands, this is cute. I don't know how to deal with my 3-year old's lack of filter sometimes. I know they don't mean anything by it, but it can be so embarrassing!!

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