Daddy

Our nanny, Susie, reported this morning that Calliope was clinging to her yesterday and then told her, "I miss my mommy and daddy."

I couldn't help it. I started laughing.

I guess i'm the worst SMC ever because it seems like everyone else is SO sensitive to this but I feel like, c'mon, at two and a half, she has NO IDEA what a daddy is in a global sense. She knows and likes Eleanor's daddy, and probably heard Eleanor say something like this.

Susie said she didn't know what to say so just said, "do you want a hug?"

Calliope said yes, got a hug, and then was ready to play again.

So this morning I said to Calliope, "I heard you were missing your Mommy and Daddy yesterday."

"Yes."

"What's your daddy's name?"

"His name is Seth."

Now, Seth is the name of Eleanor's daddy, so maybe she thinks all daddies are named Seth, or maybe she was missing the actual Seth. But I'm quite sure she's not longing for an actual daddy of her own. Not yet. 

It's kind of cool, though, that she is starting to be able to verbalize her emotions. We've been working on that a lot. Mostly "Oh, you're so mad! You don't want to brush your teeth! Mad mad mad!"

But sad is a good thing to be able to verbalize, also.