Young Minds at Work

A few days ago Alex got dressed in the clothes I had set out for him--blue patterned shorts and a light blue polo shirt. Then he put on brown socks and pulled them up above his calves. Our conversation went as follows:

Me: "Alex, let's go pick some different socks that will match."
Alex: "No, I want to wear these!"
Me: "Let's pick some white ones. The brown ones don't match."
I was kneeling down in front of him so we were eye level; he looked at me, very seriously (and a little worried) with his soft brown eyes and said, "Is it against the law?" I said, "Only according to the fashion police." I was fine with the brown socks.

Here's a conversation with my feisty little Emma:
Emma: "How many days do we have left at KinderCare?"
Me: "Two--Thursday and Friday."
Emma: "Oh! I'll have to tell Ms. Ashley that Friday will be my last day! And Elijah."
Me: "Why Elijah?"
Emma: "Because he said he doesn't want me to go to that school anymore because he doesn't like me."
Me: "That wasn't very nice of him to say. It makes me mad that he said that to you."
Emma: "Why do you care? He's not your kid."
Me: "Well, I'm glad."
Emma: "Why are you glad? Because you don't want four kids? (No) How about five? (No) How about ten? No, not ten because then our house would be WAY TOO NOISY! Mommy, is three the perfect number?"
Me: "Yes, perfect."