We Are In Trouble

Michael and I had an 'omg Hailey is so smart' moment tonight and I had to document it. :)

The girls and I were in the car, on our way to pick up Michael from the LRT station. On the way, we drove past a Starbucks and Hailey started teasing/not being nice to Hannah by saying:  

"Hailey gets hot chocolate at Starbucks and Hannah doesn't get hot chocolate because Hannah is a bad girl". 

I asked Hailey if she was being nice to Hannah, who had instantly started to cry, to which she replied 'no'. I asked her if she thought she should apologize to Hannah, to which she replied, 'no, because Hannah is bad girl'. More sobs from Hannah followed by a dramatic, 'I'm NOT a bad girl'.

At this point, Michael gets in the car and is bombarded by the emotions raging in the vehicle. Hannah was in tears in the back seat, and Hailey was still focused on the fact that 'Hannah is a bad girl'. Michael quickly jumped into his role as "Daddy" and told Hannah what a good girl she is, and that of course she could get a hot chocolate at Starbucks the next time we went, but that wouldn't be tonight. After that, he turns to Hailey and says, 

"Hannah is a good girl. Why would you say that she is bad? Hannah is a wonderfully good girl...he pauses and adds...but Hailey wouldn't go to sleep last night". 

I happened to be at a red light, and was able to watch the next series of facial expressions in my rear view mirror. Hailey stops picking on Hannah for a moment and slips into deep thought for a moment, her eyebrows down in the classic Getz 'thinking' position. Then, her eyes open wide, followed by her mouth turning from a thin line to a frown, then opening a bit, allowing a super sad wail/cry emerge. Big crocodile tears fall from her big brown eyes. 

Michael, surprised by her reaction asks, 

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" 

Through tears and deep breaths, Hailey replies, 

"You said Hailey was a bad girl. I'm not a bad girl. I'm a good girl."

...

Michael never said anything about Hailey being a bad girl - though he definitely implied it. How does a 'just barely turned' 3 year old girl cognitively wrap her head around that, make sense of it, and have such an emotional reaction to it? 

Wowsers!!!  I'm thinking that I need to start some major brain-sharpening training so that I am ready to deal with this girl as she gets older or she will be able to run mental circles around me.