Fast years with Nellie Wernet

Nellie and I spent some time reading old posts last night--one of our favorite things to do. It struck me how, when Nellie was little and the only two-year-old we'd ever had, I thought she was your average two-year-old. The funny things she said and did just seemed to be what kids her age said and did. But in looking back as the mother of four, I can see how her personality then was her personality now. She's always been so Nellie! And I'm sure it's like that, or will be like that, with the other kids, too. Kevin might say I shouldn't pigeon-hole them, but I say I'm the mom, and it's my job to know who these people are. :)

Nellie was playing with Annie the other day, and later I found a note that said something like, "Dear Annie, I'm sorry I didn't get to see you before I left for college. I will miss you so much this semester. I will Skype with you when I get to college. Love, Penelope." First of all, cute. Second, oh my gosh--this could happen someday! Some day that's coming like a runaway train.

Nellie's actually been full of questions about the future. We had this conversation yesterday after she asked me where I think she should go to college:

Nellie: So, how do you tell your college what you want to do for your job? Do you just like, write it on your permission slip?

Me: [Explained about applying for college, majors and minors, etc.] And then you apply for scholarships because college is really expensive, and the schools will tell you how much money it will cost and then you decide where to go.

Nellie: Ooh, maybe we should start having some fundraisers.

If you ask her, she's quite certain what she wants to be when she grows up. In order, she wants to be a math teacher, a librarian, just a regular book-reader, or a circus clown. Some days, it's a math teacher AND a circus clown.

I could see Nellie having a future in mathematics! I taught her the old, "1, 2, skip a few, 99, 100" years ago. This week, I overheard her saying, "1, 2, skip a few, 99 million, kablooney-pants!" I laughed. Kablooney pants? Then she told me, "Well, if numbers go to infinity, there's got to a funny one in there somewhere!"

Yup. So Nellie.