Why 4 is the Perfect Age

Taken from the Chicago Tribune (by my friend and then I stole it from her!)

Five reasons that 4 is the perfect age
Leslie Postal, Tribune Newspapers May 24, 2009

Four is the perfect age. At least for my daughter, at least right now. And, yes, it's silly to say that because every age has its wonders, and besides no age lasts, well, more than a year. Still, I'm loving age 4, maybe more so the second time around because I realize how fleeting it is, how soon enough we'll be at 5 and then kindergarten and, oh, yikes. But now she's 4, and I love it.

Here's why:
1. Four delights in walks or bikes around the neighborhood. Four still loves to collect treasure (sticks, flowers, etc.) on these little jaunts. Four still reports with great enthusiasm that she met a neighbor -- or a neighbor's cat -- on her walk. Four walks holding your hand, happily.

2. Four has her own fashion sense. Four wears the hood from a Batman costume to the park and to the supermarket. In the latter, she asks with great innocence, "Why is everyone looking at me?"

3. Four sleeps through the night, is well past potty training and doesn't turn the house upside down when you take a shower. Four makes you miss your baby sometimes but delight in this little independent person she's become -- one who no longer needs you to tote around a small army's worth of supplies. Four still likes if you have snacks in your purse, though.

4. Four sings and dances, unabashedly. Four colors amazing pictures, with giant heads and stick bodies and big smiles. Four loves books and is into letters and numbers. Four can do puzzles and hang upside down on the monkey bars. Four makes you laugh when she threatens, "I'll put a duck on your head!"

5. Four is sweet and cuddly and full of over-the-top praises for everyone she loves. So, "You're the best Mom I've seen on Earth." The corollary to this is that Four is also brutally honest. To wit: "You have a big, giant bottom!"