Sophistication

While Madeleine and I were walking home from school today, we had a discussion about sophistication.

MADELEINE: Why is Julia always having to be so MEAN about things that are funny?
ME: What do you mean?
MADELEINE: Well, she gets mad at me if I laugh when she uses a GROWN-UP word, and she says, "It's not FUNNY, Madeleine."
ME: Like what kind of grown-up words does she use?
MADELEINE: Well, I think it's funny when she says "meanwhile."
ME: Well, Julia is a pretty advanced reader, so she has a sophisticated vocabulary.
MADELEINE: Sophisticated?!?  What does THAT mean?
ME: Well, if a kid is sophisticated, it means they have a knowledge of things that are kind of...
MADELEINE: Grown-up?
ME: Yeah, like of a higher level than their age.  You're a really advanced reader too, so I bet when you're Julia's age you'll have a really sophisticated vocabulary.
MADELEINE: I don't WANT to!  I just wanna talk like a KID!

Be that as it may.  Madeleine is at least proud of her sophisticated art skills, as she found out today she won the school Earth Day Poster contest for her grade.  The poster she drew is hanging up in the school lobby along with the other winners from each grade.  So I guess Madeleine might not want to use grown-up words, but she sure shows some grown-up drawing potential.

Speaking of sophisticated, Julia decided to play it totally classy this evening.  While she was supposed to be brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed, she was instead devoting her time to this completely elegant and refined behavior:





Now THAT'S how we do it in the Rowe household!