First boy-talk, ever

Aunt Tamra's Christmas package -- having three boys, she loves to shop for girls' clothes -- arrived this morning. Much squealing ensued. ("Aunt Tamra has really overdone herself this year!" said Ella. I had visions of Tam staying too long in a tanning booth, but I didn't have the heart to correct Ella on the wording.)

"Gee, Ella," said Madison, as Ella put on a denim skirt and denim jacket, both embroidered with colorful flowers. "That's beautiful. That will really attract the boys."

"It will?" said Ella, with a skeptical look on her face. "Do I want it to?"

"Sure, you do," said Madison, cheerfully. "Come on, let's go upstairs and I'll get you looking so good that all of the boys will want to have a date with you right away."

They came down. Ella had her hair brushed (!) and a navy hair band holding it back.

"You look nice," I said.

"Yes," said Madison. "And I did up her eyes and lips really nice, too."

"Oh, really?" I said. "I can't see anything different there."

Without pausing a lick, she replied, "Oh only the boys will be able to notice."

Ah, if she only knew.

I guess I'd better tell David that he'll need to start getting the baseball bat ready.

Update: We're finishing up school for the day, and Madison is pretending to be a boy named Max who is at "real" school, chatting up "Elizabeth" (Ella) in the funniest "deep" voice. I'm gathering that she's doing this so that Ella starts getting experience talking with "guys."

Honestly, I can barely bear to listen, both because it reminds me of exactly how I used to play with my little sister, and how I used to wince at the memories not too many years after we used to engage in the same kind of play-acting. Besides, I'm inclined to think that they're too young to be thinking about this. Maybe they've been picking up this kind of talk at Brownies, or something.