Do Not Answer That!

You might recall from my post about rock-paper-scissors that Kate, my 7-year-old, is... shall we say... somewhat competitive.

For example, anytime I ask Claire (age 4) a question, Kate has to jump in and answer it all triumphantly. I'll say, "Claire, what is one plus two?" Then Kate will shout "THREE!!" from the other room.

So here's what went down the other night.

We were talking about Claire's friend Emma, who was having a birthday party. And I thought of a question to ask Claire.

I knew that Kate would be all over this, so I issued a stern warning.

Then I said, "Claire, do you know how to spell the name Emma?"

As soon as Kate heard the question, she registered the answer in her head.

She was marshaling every ounce of willpower, trying to keep the answer inside.

Claire, meanwhile, was considering her answer.

At this point, Claire couldn't help but notice that Kate was somewhat eager to answer the question herself.

I encouraged Claire to keep going.

I could tell that she was starting to milk the situation. She has spelled "Emma" before, but suddenly it was taking her a long time to come up with the letters.

Meanwhile, next to her:

Kate could barely hold it together. In fact, she didn't really hold it together at all.

And, wouldn't you know it, Claire suddenly remembered how to spell the name!

As soon as Claire delivered the answer, Kate (nearly catatonic on the ground) burst out yelling, "E-M-M-A!!" over and over.

After a while, it degenerated into just "M."

I shook my head, then turned to Claire. "Well, what do you think of that?" I asked her. Claire brightly proclaimed: