Four-year old Grace and her friend, a boy her age, sat at the kitchen table, snacking and chatting. I stood at the sink, washing dishes. I heard her say, “I don’t have a brain!”
I looked over and said, “Yes, you do! Everyone has a brain!”
“No,” she said, matter of fact. “Girls do not have brains.”
Taken aback, I said, “Girls do not have brains?”
“No,” she continued. “Girls have hearts. Boys have brains.”
“Do boys have hearts?” I asked.
“No,” she said.
I chided, “Well, really, everyone has a heart and everyone has a brain.”
“No,” she insisted. “Girls have hearts. Boys have brains.”
My girl is working to set back the feminist movement one hundred years.
This startles me because I have always viewed myself as a Smart Girl. I’ve never ever considered myself beautiful or kooky or adventurous. I found my niche in life early on, possibly when I wrote and illustrated my own books about seals when I was a first grader. Or maybe when I won all the classroom spelling bees as a fifth grader. Or maybe when I was the first girl “to the moon,” when I learned my multiplication tables before everyone else in third grade.
My most-loved joke in college was when I called myself an airhead because I knew I was anything but. My friend, Lisa, and I wore neon pink sweatshirts that proclaimed, “Airhead Alert!” which never failed to crack me up. It was the ultimate sarcastic joke.
If I were cast in a movie, I’d be the sidekick, the smart friend in sensible shoes with good ideas. That’s just who I am. A smart girl. The girls with brains.
And now, I have this funny daughter who has proclaimed that girls don’t have brains. Girls have hearts. I can’t even imagine how she came up with this bit of whimsy. I do know better than to argue with her because you can’t argue with someone who has no brain.
Actual Unretouched Photo 
What a bit of whimsy indeed. I love the way you recreate the dialogue. Beautiful.
It reminds me of when my son was that same age. He had been watching some documentary on the Discovery channel and he comes upstairs with a very concerned look on his face. “Mom” he wails in angst, “There’s a BRAIN in my head.” Let’s hope so dear.
LikeLike
Makes you wonder where she picked that up. I caught my daughter singing, “Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider” (if you remember that playground rhyme from ancient days) and I let her know that didn’t please me. I don’t like classifications like that.
LikeLike
“You can’t argue with someone who has no brain.” So true! And you had the brains to realize it!
Truly, she has a pretty sharp brain to summarize the big cultural gender divide so neatly.
LikeLike
And my daughter thought she wanted to marry a horse, but grew up to teach horseback riding to little girls.
Your little one will learn all that she needs to know over the course of the next few years. For now, it’s enough that she clearly has a mind of her own.
What a darling story and yes, you told it exceptionally well.
LikeLike
It is a darling story. She must have a brain to be so sure of her opinion at that age.
LikeLike
Your story is way cute… and much more preferable than my Niece… who at age 3 loudly proclaimed to anyone who’d listen that “Boys brains are in their pants”. A phrase that (thankfully) did not come from her very intelligent Aunt.
LikeLike
Mel,
When I read your blog I always hear Joan Cusak’s voice. If you ever seen 9 months, that is just how I picture you. Smart, funny and a wonderfully good heart! Just the kind of friend that we need more of.
Mrs. DMG
LikeLike
I thought this post was quite cute until the very end when I decided that it was hilarious.
LikeLike