When we have wine with dinner, we pour DS4 a tablespoon or so into his own dessert wine glass to sip with his meal. He loves wine! Like, actually, genuinely appreciates the different tastes and enjoys savouring the sips.

The other day, he was snacking on some Brie when I told him, "You know, DS, you'd love this kind of adult party called a wine and cheese, where you stand around talking while drinking wine and eating cheese."

His eyes lit up and he said, "Can we make my 5th birthday party a wine and cheese?"

When I told him that most parents don't let their children drink wine, and that most children don't like it, he seemed nonplussed. Without missing a beat he replied, "That's okay. We can make it adults only. We want to make sure the party is appropriate for the people we invite."

Is it wrong that I'm glad he thinks "wine and cheese" rather than "Chuck E Cheese" for parties? Bad Aquinas!

No, Aquinas, it's not wrong!! I think Chuck E Cheese could be more tolerable with wine, though

DD, in grade one, came home really upset from school. They've started a new unit on money (identifying coins). DD already knows all of the material but she's happy because the teacher has been differentiating/exempting her from tasks that are way too easy.

Anyway, she was mad because they were supposed to talk about money but then the teacher gave the students a choice: watch a Franklin video or learn about money. They voted and watched the Franklin video. DD was so frustrated. She said she was the only one who wanted to learn anything and "Why would anyone want to watch a Franklin video instead of learn?"

She was also frustrated when the Space unit turned out to be about identifying 2D shapes instead of calculating the time it takes to cross the galaxy.

Her expectations are a bit different than the actual curriculum...

Ditto here! This term DD's class did technology. Which meant they made pencil holders out of cardboard and papier mache. Which DD has already done at home by herself for fun about 3 years ago. She said, "I thought technology would involve some actual, well, technology."

Aquinas, my DD also loved wine. I let her have a sip thinking she would hate it and nope.

I can't remember if I posted this yet, but my DS11 decided while playing twenty questions that instead of is it Animal, Vegetable Mineral, he would rather use the names used within Animal Kingdoms specifically Phylum. I admit he lost me when he wanted to know if it was a Chordata or a Cnidaria….

Poor DS16. He often comes home from school so excited about a calc or physics or comp sci concept a few chapters ahead that he figured out himself, then proved (they are all AP classes) Or today the homework he found from the class above his, that he proceeded to do. He can't wait to tell me all about it. I listen, I ask questions, I really do get interested, but he can tell: I just don't quiiiiiite get it the same way he does. So he switches into another gear...like to tell me the history of the Lucky Charms marshmallow bits ("marbits" is the technical term). Did you know there have been 133 different marbits? Yum!

DD6 while listening to a Magic Tree House audiobook:
"Mom, it's about Leonardo da Vinci. He's even more amazing than I thought!"

DS7, when asked whether the new friend he made yesterday reminded him of other kids he knew, responded with, "Every kid is unique."

Speaking of 20 questions, in our house it's not animal/vegetable/mineral but animal/vegetable/mineral/abstract concept. DH and I have learned our lesson after playing with the kids..too many games where they chose things like "time" and "syllables."

Oh ultramarina - 20 questions becomes a completely different thing, doesn't it

My DS11 is interested in habitats, so he had us fill up a sterlite container full of water, add some dechlorinator, and he grabbed a couple of water plants from our pond. He said he couldn't wait for life to come to his little habitat. Fast forward a couple of weeks, he started yelling excitedly - we have life we have life! I go out to look and yep, we have life all right- massive amounts of mosquito larvae! I told him that he himself had told me that mosquitos were the most dangerous insects in the world (he said oh mom that's just the malaria ones, and they aren't here) I told him that where we live it's illegal to breed mosquitos (it is, but he said I can't kill innocents). So I said, okay, let's see what is missing from your ecosystem- predators! He agreed to let me get some mosquito fish, and along with a net over the container to keep any opportunistic mosquitos from escaping into the wild, we have balanced the food web.

DD10 is learning about Islam in 6th grade. We were having a discussion about Christianity vs. Islam and then veered into food rules for different religions. I mentioned that her grandfather on my husband's side was a devout Baptist who did not believe in drinking. DD then began wondering what it would be like if God got drunk and perhaps he would turn the sky pink and then trailed off as she got re-pulled back into Minecraft.
I don't know how "gifty" that conversation was, but I sure had some weird ideas in my head after trying to imagine a drunk God!!