Have you ever said something that came out completely wrong to your children and you immediately knew you needed to correct it, but they beat you to the punch?

This afternoon in a frenzy of sandwich preparation, discussion and bartering about what dessert to have, and caring for my half awake but groggy toddler, I did just that. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of conversation and firing of requests in my direction. I had just made each of the three kids a cool glass of rich chocolatey Ovaltine. Ember, Ms. Independent, grabbed herself a crazy straw and top and began to brag to her brother about how "COOL" she was with her added components. Nova wanted to do the same, but unlike his sister began to demand that I fetch all the stuff for him. I was sweeping up the dirt they had tracked in from running around outside when this final request was made of me. I shot a snarly look in his direction and snipped,

"why don't you just drink your milk like a grown up?!"

"But...B-B-But, MOM, I'm not a grown up!" Nova stammered.

"Oh, yes you are, more than they are!"

After I said this I knew I needed to correct myself before he got too big for his britches.

Ember then pipes up with a very adult perspective.

"Mom" she begins, with her hands on her tiny hips, "Nova is not a bedult! He would den haf to be in chawge of da' choiwces and dishijuns!!!"

Well...

Score one for the girl.

After dinner my son sometimes likes to skip around in circles and sing or think out loud. Tonight was one such evening. As he skipped around the living room in an inquisitive frenzy he began to talk about all the different kind of animals there are. In his desperate quest to discover the link between us and other mammals he wondered out loud...

"Is a shark a mammal?"

"Nope, they do give birth to live young, but breathe with gills not lungs," I replied.

"Is a seahorse a mammal?"

"No, it's fish also, like the shark."

"Mom, is a lion a mammal?"

"Yes," I reply.

Nova begins skipping a little faster. 

"Mom, is a tiger a mammal?"

"Yes, Nova."

His skipping speeds up again. 

"Is a whale a mammal?"

"Yes."

"So, a monkey is a mammal?"

"Yep."

"Geez mom, just about everything is a mammal or a fish! There are no reptiles."

My four year old daughter, who, the entire time sat at the table picking at her green beans, pipes up and ask in her silly, cute voice, "a wrecked tile??!! What's a wrecked tile?!"

Nova stops dead in his tracks, still breathing heavy, he raises his arms in a muscle man pose and shouts...

"I AM ERECTILE!!!"