Are you smarter than a kindergartener?

Clearly I should answer no to this question (Are you smarter than a kindergartener?) and I readily admit that Amelia is smarter than me. I have no problem with this at all and I am so proud of my big girl. Here's the story...

The children and I often play word/thinking games while driving to and home from school. One of our favorites is "I'm thinking of an animal...", where one person thinks of an animal and then that person offers clues about the animal and answers questions from the other players until someone guesses it correctly. Amelia's level of sophistication in playing this game as evolved this spring, as she and her classmates have learned about different environments and the animals that live in them in science lessons at school. Today's version went something like this (John did not participate as we were on our way to pick him up):

Amelia: I am thinking of an animal that lives in the ocean.

Mom (guessing several times here): starfish, shark, dolphin,...

Amelia: No, no, no. Mom! Those are too easy. You are never going to guess this one.

Mom: seahorse, whale?

Amelia: No! You're never going to get this one, so you need a clue...it's a kind of fish.

Mom: A puffer fish? A blow fish? (These came to mind because Amelia had pointed their photos out to me in the ocean unit artwork on display during open house at her school last night).

Amelia: No, mom! It's a flying fish! I told you I would trick you.

Mom: Ok, you got me. My turn. I'm thinking of an animal that is very tiny.

Amelia: Plankton?

Mom: (thinking, I'm amazed this kid thought of plankton): No.

Amelia: Grasshopper, fly, spider...

Mom: No.

Amelia: I think I need a clue. Is it cold-blooded?

Mom (thinking, oh my gosh, I can't believe I don't know how to answer this question): No, at least I don't think so. How would I know if it is cold-blooded?

Amelia: Mom! Everyone knows that reptiles are ALWAYS cold-blooded! Are you thinking of a tiny reptile?

And then, thankfully, we pulled into the school's parking lot and Amelia got distracted by something and never learned that her mom was thinking of a plain old ladybug. Poor girl, she has to play the animal guessing game with a mother who is less than creative and certainly not up on her animal facts. Maybe I'll actually have to study up with a book or start watching the Discovery channel like Scott so that I can become more competitive with our game. And yes, I now know how to answer her clue question correctly. Lady bugs are cold-blooded, as all insects are (google found the answer for me in one hit). Watch out! Tomorrow I will have more fun trying to trick her, though I am sure Amelia will still be smarter than me, and that is a great thing.

Below is a photo from our trip to the park this past Sunday. We had spring-like weather and the kids had a blast chasing each other all over the playground.

Compare and contrast the above photo with the one directly below, circa October 2006, from another visit to the park. Amelia was 3 years old and John was about 8 months in this photo. My how they have grown!