I love words. Some of them I love just for their sound: eviscerate, mercurial, novelty, snacks. Others I love for their meaning: ameliorate, ostensibly, ebullient, snacks. So from the start of Scarlett’s life, I talked to her using at least a few words from my old college-bound-student vocabulary book.

I also think it’s hilarious when really little kids use really big words, so when she was a year old and starting to talk a lot, I taught her a game of synonyms.

“What’s another word for careful?” I would ask, and she responded with “vigilant.” She was learning, and I was entertained. I’ll note here that I doubt she remembers this game or what the word vigilant actually means. We let it trail off when I couldn’t get her to pick up on daily=quotidian. That one might have been a bit of a stretch. But I’m telling this part of the story to illustrate how important the word vigilant was to us in those earlier days. I’m not sure it would even have occurred to me to say it to her, except that back then we had what is known in the parenting world as “a runner.” Read More>