Opinion : The tale of an emotional tummy

I always say, "If it makes me laugh, you're going to hear about it." This one made me laugh.

I have a four-year-old granddaughter who I think is sometimes too smart for her own good. I forget that she has ears like sonar and a mental capacity above that of what I think a four-year-old should. But then I'm her grandma and I should believe that about her right?

Today I picked her up from preschool and because it's snack time/just about supper time, I asked, "Are you hungry?" She of course said, "Yes." She knows that she's the boss and that's fine. "Where would you like to go?" I asked.

I know that it doesn't matter where we go, she's going to want either chicken nuggets or a cheeseburger with ketchup and today a tomato. She chose the diner. A cheeseburger was ordered and she also wanted corn.

I chose a different dish and ordered corn as my side dish so that she of course could have it.

With the burger halfway gone, and the corn well on its way to being consumed, she swallowed wrong. This of course set her off into a coughing fit. As others looked on, I calmly told her to spit out what was in her mouth and then take a drink.

She did as instructed, red-faced and fine in a few seconds. I did catch the glare from another grandma who I'm sure thought that I should have done a little more freaking out than I did. However, we were fine. The coughing stopped, but she was done with the corn.

"I don't think I want any more corn. It made my tummy upset. Now my tummy is all emotional." I grinned, and then I chuckled. Then I laughed. I caught the glare again from the table next to ours.

"Your tummy is 'emotional'?" I asked. "Yes," she replied, "It's all upset because I choked on the corn." It took me a few seconds, but I got what she was saying.

If you're upset, you're emotional. Therefore her tummy being upset at the corn made it "emotional." Then I thought, the kid knows what emotions are, pretty good for a four-year-old.

The afternoon was spent playing numerous games of Uno, and rigging the games so I kept losing, she cheered. She laughed. Followed by a few games of "Grammy Grams." She said she had this game where there's a lady with gray hair in a bun and with glasses and you try not to keep her card. She said it was called, "Old Maid" but seriously, someone is ripping me off.

Following mucho games of Uno, I think it's safe to say, the "emotional tummy" is fine now.

Returning her to her mommy, I explained that her tummy had had an emotional day. Her mom had the same reaction as I did. "What?"

She's tucked into bed now, and is sleeping away. I just hope there are no visions of corn in her dreams.