What do you put in YOUR boots?

My great-grandson Charlie (age 4) woke at the crack of dawn this morning.  

Mom: "Hey Charlie. Wanna watch a movie?"

Charlie: "Yes! Let’s watch Cat N Boots!"

Mom: "You mean Puss in Boots, Bud."

Charlie: "MOM. That is inappropriate! It is CAT n Boots."

Mom: …. … "what is inappropriate about that?"

Charlie: *rolls eyes* "A PUSS is what you put your keys and candy and phone and stuffs in when we go to the car. Why would anyone put that stuff in their boots?"

Me: "Dude, you are thinking of a PURSE."

Charlie: *rolls eyes harder* "That’s what I just said, puss!"

Ashley cloned herself when she had Charlie. These are the kinds of observations and comments she made all the time when she was his age. He looks and acts just like her at age four. I babysat her daily, and she was in my prek classes for three years, so I have firsthand knowledge. People used to ask if she was a child actor. Nope. Just always acting up.

She saw a teen kid skateboarding and said, "That is the guy who cooks my Ravioli!" She meant Chef Boy-ar-dee (a recognizable brand name in the U.S.)

We were leaving a big box store when she tugged my hand and begged me to stop and look at the posted images of missing and exploited children. "Nana, I know their mommy! The Old Lady who lived in a shoe had so many children she didn't know what to do. I need to tell her we found them."

Her comment paid off in a chunk of change in the 1990s. We were watching TV when the announcer broke into regular programming to update viewers on presidential election results. He said, "More on cadidates at 10:00 p.m."

Ashley looked at me agahast and said, "I did not know they could call the president a moron on national T.V."

I submitted that quip to a well known periodical. Weeks later, I opened my mail to discover a complimentary copy with a $100.00 check enclosed. On page 83, a cartoon image of one of our former presidents (GWB) wearing a dunce cap. Ashley's comment printed underneath.

Parent's magazine has also published my kids' and grandkids' quips. There's a market for the darndest things kids say.

If yours, like my kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, also have the gift of gab, submit their quips. They just might pay off, too.