At age three, my daughter Lexie is a cute, sweet little kid. At least that's what people think. While she really can be sweet and cute and all that, there's a mischievous side that comes out when you least expect it. Right now we're dealing with the "creative insults" phase. At least that's what I'm calling it, as my son never went through that. Lexie, on the other hand, has a colorful, if unconventional vocabulary. Right now, her insult du jour is "You big buffalo", whereas previously it was "garbage can" or "kook".

A few weeks ago she came into work with me and I introduced her around. Of course the common reaction was "Ooooh, look at you—you're so cute!" Maybe she had a case of "the shys" or something, but when asked her name she just sat there silently and tried to hide behind me. After a second or two she grinned and said "Nobody!"

Everyone laughed and said "How cute!" And I smiled and thought "At least you don't have to leave with it every day…" She did this at least twice, with two separate groups of my colleagues.

She's been pretty good up until this weekend, when we headed to the hardware store for a fun Saturday morning father/daughter outing. We made it successfully to the plumbing aisle and back, and to the register. The kindly woman at the checkout counter, in keeping with the common reaction when seeing a really cute three-year-old, looked at Lexie and said "Hi there, aren't you cute. How are you?"

Lexie looked up with "that" smile. The one I mentioned above. "Bonkey head!" she said in a deep (for a three-year-old) gravelly voice.

Hardware Store Lady looked a little puzzled and leaned closer to her and said, "Sorry sweetie, I couldn't hear, what did you say?" Meanwhile I'm thinking, "Please, no. Stop. Don't ask."

"Bonkey head"

Another puzzled look. "What was that?"

Please, stop. "Ha ha, Lexie! Why don't you say hello to the nice lady?"

"BONKEY HEAD!"

And with the last "bonkey head" I got my change and we skedadled, plumbing fixtures in hand. I had to try pretty hard not to laugh, since it's not good to make your children think their bad behavior is a source of hilarity. But it was hilarious. And I did laugh.