[MomtoKatieB]

I am usually a lurker but I have to ask how to address this situation. I was at a funeral yesterday and one of my aunts was taking care of Katie (DD age 3). My aunt said "Shut your eyes" and Katie shook her head and said "Close your eyes." My aunts refer to her as the grammar police. I am not sure what to do. I am proud of her in one way, but if she corrects someone who is not a family member, I am concerned it will end with her having some hurt feelings.
What should I do?

[BensMom]

I wouldn't worry about it. Like anything else, 3 year old are going to say whatever pops into their minds simply because that's what 3 year olds do. Gifted children represent many different ages inside one body, and that type of behavior is typical, even if the words themselves aren't. If she'd said a swear word, how would you have responded? You would've said something like, "it's not nice to say that word because ____" (with either the meaning of the word or that it's just not appropriate). That doesn't mean you wouldn't have to reinforce this again later, though. So in this case, you can say, "it's not nice to correct adults", but be careful, because sometimes children really SHOULD correct adults, especially if they're in a dangerous situation. You don't want her to feel as if what she said was necessarily wrong, just that it would be nicer if she didn't make the other person feel stupid, ya' know?

[Butter]

As long as she isn't being rude (saying something like "you're dumb, it's...") I wouldn't worry about it at all.

[MomtoKatieB]

I was assured that she said it in that sweet, squeaky three year old voice. We don't use the words "dumb" and/or "stupid" in our house and since Barney, Elmo or Mickey Mouse doesn't use them either that I know of, I would be horrified if she used them.