Contemplating the Mysteries of Age and Size

This morning, Ian told me that, now that Madeleine is a full-fledged toddler, Daniel, of all people, formally inducted her into the ranks of not-babies, by teaching her a highly chauvinistic song disparaging babies, by Sandra Boynton, called "Bad Babies," where an experienced five-year-old shares his or her frustration at the perceived whininess and overall unpleasantness of infants. For some reason, the children love this song.

He also pointed out to me the humor of Daniel's conviction that he, at five, was a "big kid," whereas Madeleine, at three, was a "little kid." He observed that Daniel would have to admit, if pressed, that either he is a little kid or Madeleine is a big kid.

This made me very curious about the actual threshold of big-kidness. Ian said he thought big kids started around age eleven... and yet, at seven, he already feels like something of a big kid.

(August 4, 2011)