Carolyn seems to have mastered the art of hyperbole: “Mommy, you’re the best mommy in the whole entire universe!” is a common one. As is “Anna, you’re the best little sister ever!” I’m just waiting until she learns that they can be used negatively, too.
And yesterday in the car I brought up Mimi. Mimi first appeared almost four years ago, and has been a significant part of Carolyn’s world since. We haven’t heard about Mimi in a while, so I just casually asked Carolyn what Mimi was up to these days.
Well. The conversation went like this:
C: “Mommy, Mimi has a boyfriend!”
Me: “Really? A boyfriend? Um…so how old is Mimi now?”
C: “Oh, just a little older than me. 10. Or maybe 11.”
Me: “10…or 11? And she has a boyfriend now?”
C: “Yeah, that’s just a little older than me. Because, 6 is almost 10!”
Honestly, this conversation rattled me more than I’d like to admit. First that 6 really is almost 10 (because the years have flown by fast enough to this point that the next thing I know she really will be 10) and second that 10…or maybe 11…is old enough to have a boyfriend. Not to mention that my 6 year old is even aware of the concept of “boyfriend”.
To borrow a page from Carolyn, that was the most frightening conversation ever!