Everything She Knows She Learned from Comic Books...

...or at least from the cartoons based thereon, and other books and shows of that type.

So Abby (8) asked me today, "What does "my enemy's enemy is my friend" mean?" Under many circumstances this would take a certain amount of thought, but because of her favorite types of fiction - superheroes, epic battles between Good vs. Evil, feisty self-rescuing princesses - it was as simple as "You know how Robin and Slade are enemies? Well, they can work together to get rid of Trigon. That's what it means." And the story I've already told, where she asked me what "lusting" meant. I told her that when Jafar wanted to marry Jasmine, it was because he was lusting after the throne of Agrabah. And she was satisfied with that answer; it was accurate but age-appropriate.

Sometimes this means she has a very black-and-white outlook, but she is after all an 8yo kid. That's normal for eight-year-olds; they can be very literal. But some of the stuff she reads/watches/listens to lends itself to more shades of gray. And that's a Good Thing. Even if it does lead to more negotiation than I'd prefer... there's a lot of "but what if..." and "I think we should..." coming out of her mouth. But overall, I like it.