NOTE TO PARENTS (especially mothers):  little smart-mouth girls are not cute.  They’re not funny either.

Smart-mouth kids is a pet peeve of mine, probably because I wasn’t mouthy while growing up.  I turn my head so fast in the direction of kids talking smart to their parents, or any other adult, that I’m surprised my neck haven’t snapped by now.

This blog post focuses on toddler and preschool-aged girls.  Those little 2-5 year-old girls that stand with their hands on their hips while talking.  They can barely pronounce their own names, yet they are able to say an assortment of smart-alecky words.

My niece was one of those little mouthy girls at that age.  She was around age 3 or 4 when one day, out of nowhere, she said, “For your information.”  I had no idea what she was talking about, and neither did she.  She now has a 5 year-old daughter who’s even mouthier.

For some reason, and I don’t care to know that reason, a lot of women think it’s cute and funny when toddler and preschool girls talk smart.  Well it’s not.  And I can’t stand the following:

• “Oh did you hear her?  She’s so cute.”
• “Ain’t she cute?”
• “Ain’t she grown?”
• “Look at her lil grown self.”
• “Gone girl with yo’ bad self.”

These little girls walk around, talking smart to whomever they like, and their mothers don’t say a word.  Well, not all mothers keep quiet.  Some mothers, or other female figures, don’t allow that madness.  My mother, sisters and I didn’t allow my niece to talk smart around us.

A few years ago while I was at work, a little girl around 4-5 years of age, was standing at the nurses’ station talking smart and sassy.  She responded sensibly when asked her name and age, but the attitude was definitely there.  One of my co-workers laughed loudly and said, “Ain’t she grown y’all?  Ain’t she grown?”  My other co-workers and I told her no, that she was not grown.

A few minutes later, the child’s aunt arrived while she was talking.  The aunt quickly put an end to that madness.  She told the child that she didn’t know why her mother let her talk that way, but that she was going to stop it.

Mouthy female toddlers and preschoolers are not cute.  And they’re not grown.  They are disrespectful.  But I can’t blame them because they don’t know any better.  I blame their parents, especially their mothers.