Where Does She Come Up With These?!

More from the mouth of Hillary (with appropriate setup):

Item #1:
Thursday I helped my father-in-law move some more furniture, and he offered me a small dresser that I agreed we could use in our house. I brought it home and, since Susan and the girls were out of the house at the time, decided to set it up in Abigail's bedroom (since she most needs more clothes storage) for her to discover when she returned. It necessitated rearranging some other items and rehanging some things on her walls, so it was a noticeable change. My father-in-law had also given me some toys that the girls used to play with at his apartment, so I put those in Suzanna's bedroom for her to use with the new baby doll she got recently.

When the girls returned and went to their bedrooms to get into their pajamas, Abigail and Suzanna noticed the new things in their bedrooms, and we all gathered to look over the newly acquired items. I could see in Hillary's face an expression that reflected her wondering whether she had gotten anything from my trip to help Grandpa (and the answer was, unfortunately, "no"), so I offered her a gentle explanation of why there were new things in her sisters' rooms but not hers. With a new that's-no-problem facial expression showing her effort to be a big girl and avoid tears, she quickly said, with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, "Capisci. I'm fine."

"Capisci"?! When did this girl learn Italian?! [I guess her conjugation could use some work.]

Item #2:
Even though some mornings are now pretty frigid, the girls and I continue to walk to school together every day (three or four blocks from our house to their school and then another block or so to my office at the university) for exercise, conversation time, and economy (I don't pay for gas for my undriven vehicle). Friday morning, Suzanna paused at one point to pick up three pennies from the sidewalk, and she shared the good fortune ("Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck") with each of her sisters.

At supper last night, Hillary remembered a related unfortunate after-school event that she wanted to tell us about. However, mid-sentence she found herself overcome with emotion and decided that it was too difficult to go on--she wanted to change the topic. I don't remember word-for-word what she said, so I'll have to paraphrase a bit; but I'll underline the exact phrase that I do remember: "Daddy, after school in the gym, I lost my penny. It was the one that Suzanna had given me, and I lost it, and now I don't have it anymore. [suddenly in tears, bringing her hand up to her face] I don't want to talk about it."

Our six-year-old Scandinavian daughter is verklempt?! Did middle-aged Jewish New Yorker Linda Richman possess Hillary momentarily?! (Raise your hand if you did not have to click the links to "get" those allusions.)

In both instances (items #1 and #2), Susan and I tried very hard to be comforting and tend to Hillary's emotional needs and not burst out laughing at the humor of what she had said. Parenting is a tricky business and requires a straight face.