Attorney in Training

Since Claire has been little Stuart and I have said to each other that Claire is going to grow up and be an attorney. Her negotiation and reason skills forever keep us on our toes. As she gets older she becomes more determined to prove her reasoning is flawless. It only takes living with her for a day or two to realize that Harvard Law may be her destiny.

The other day Claire came home from school upset about Will. (Yes, Kissing Will). Apparently Will told Claire she talked mean and then went on to list kids in the various second grade who think Claire is mean too.

I was shocked and concerned, but Claire seemed only irritated, not depressed. I asked her if she was ok. She replied, "Yeah mom. And do you know why? Because I don't even talk to most of those kids that Will listed because they aren't even in my class so if I don't talk to them, how is it possible that I talk mean to them? It is impossible. So he's wrong about that. Plus, I just asked him, "If that's true, then why do I have so many friends?" He didn't have an answer, so I know I'm right."

Part of me was proud that Claire could stand and hold her own. The other part was the practical parent that inquired if her daughter maybe had used a rude tone with Will and hurt his feelings. "Well I don't think so mom. I think he's just mad because I don't want to kiss him or be his girlfriend." (I couldn't help but smile at how she drew out the word girlfriend.) "And mom," Claire continued, "I am always the nicest to Will because he's sort of sensitive. So I know it's not that. I think he's just mad at me and making it up."

The problem with writing this story is that I lack the ability to paint the scene. It wasn't just the words, but the delivery. The drawn out words. The emphasis on the word impossible. Her ability to never break eye contact with me, her jury. And so while at the beginning I was very open and concerned about both sides of the story, by the end I was believing that Will was retaliating to Claire's lack of interest in him. The jury came back with its verdict. On the count of mistreating Claire in the 1st degree: guilty.

The following day we had separated the kids after a typical squabble between them. Claire sat in the blue arm chair, bouncing up and down unable to wait her turn to speak. Stuart and I became the judges, trying to determine how to solve the issue. Claire interjected her objections loudly and frequently until silenced by the judges. Finally, when it was her turn to speak, I couldn't help but laugh as Claire actually said, "I have evidence of this matter! I have evidence!" And so the law terms begin. Claire presented her evidence and it was determined that her younger brother had perhaps been hogging the right end of the purple couch closest to the TV and that it might be fair to let Claire have that end for awhile. And while Claire may have proved her point the judges pointed out that in their courtroom life isn't always fair and fighting over fairness will not always end in a favorable verdict.

And so we continue to watch our budding attorney grow. There are days her skills are maddening, and no, I don't mean mad skillz, I mean the kind of abilities that can make you want to pull your hair out when she spits out verbatim something you said but when you repeated it later it wasn't exactly what you had said before. Or helping her understand that justice is not always delivered. Or when she tries to become the one to rule the roost with her reasoning. Yet most of the time it is fascinating. Especially since we don't tell her we think she's bound for law school some day. I'm not even sure she knows what law is. So for now we just watch our Judge ClaireBear walk through life fighting for justice whenever she can.