Just like she learned her colors, and the sounds, she purposefully learned and recognizes the smells with incredible accuracy. The specific scents of all flowers, the herbs and spices, upcoming rain, type of forest, type of food, firewood smoke, candy. She can smell candy!!
As a three year old, when conrad picked us up by car, she asked: who ate chocolate? Conrad had one bite before getting in the car to drive to pick us up. We laughed …but not much escapes her. Mint … she will walk across the room and say: you have mint gum! Even if you tried to be discreet and not chew.
Today we are in a kids park. There’s nobody here, but a Grampa is pushing his toddler grandson on a swing, on the other side of this kids park. A few minutes later a dad walks in with his 4 year old daughter and Jackie yells from the top of the jungle gym: “mama, I smell cigarette smoke!” I saw the dad lower his cigarette and walk to the other side to finish it.
One thing is certain: Jackie is the smoke police. And she will not ignore any smell, especially cigarette smoke. And she will tell you to not smoke near her.
Conrad gives her kudos point that add up to a kinder egg at every decimal, and shoe shopping when she gets to 100. Pretty awesome incentive to be an upstanding young citizen (it’s mostly good cooperative behavior at home, responding the first time she is called, going to bed without drama etc.
She got four points (two per intervention/adult) this last Sunday for walking up to two dads who were smoking at a kids birthday party Jackie was a guest at. She asked them why they were smoking. They had no response, so after an uncomfortable silence she told them to go smoke near the garbage. Then she went back to play as if nothing happened.
The funniest reaction is when J gets next to our panting dog, and all of a sudden she exclaims in english: “Rufus, your breath stinks!”