Already?

Kiera's been pretty chatty this week.

On Wednesday, she was talking about Billy and Bobby (not their real names). On the playground, they did something they weren't supposed to do and got the whole class in trouble... no kickball for the whole class. She got this gossipy 12-year-old girl tone to her voice and told me all about how it was so unfair and that everyone was so mad and the other boys were telling Billy and Bobby that they weren't their friends anymore. And it was SO UNFAIR. Billy and Bobby are always getting in trouble. Why do they always have to do bad stuff? Why can't they just be nice?

(I want to tell her that this has to do with their Y chromosome and that she will spend the rest of her life trying to figure men out... but I refrain. LOL)

Then she proceeds to tell me about Susie and Mary (again, not their real names). Earlier in the year, she sat next to Susie. They got along fairly well. Mary... well, not so much. But Kiera starts dishing on these two (again in the gossipy pre-teen voice)... I don't understand why they won't talk to anyone else. They only want to talk to each other. They are neighbors and they ignore everyone else. Just because they live by each other, they can't talk to anyone else? I don't even care. Susie isn't my friend anymore. And Mary is bossy. She is SO bossy. I don't know why she is so bossy. But why won't they talk to anyone else? They are so mean sometimes....

Seriously, this went on for like 10 minutes.

And don't get me wrong: Kiera's a good kid and she is nice to everyone at school. She's also sensitive.

But these kids are 7 years old. It amazes me how early this starts! They seem so young to be wading into the muddy social waters.

At least she is still young enough that she is talking to me about these things. I know the day will come when she won't. I'm not looking forward to those days.

So we chatted about all of these things... the unfairness and others' feelings and why its so important to treat others respectfully. Be nice to everyone. Include everyone.

Why do they have to grow up so fast??