Because My Teacher's Not Here

So, I'm standing at the kitchen island, preparing dinner, a few days ago, when my daughter (5 years old) comes up and places a piece of paper on the island. "Here, daddy." she says. "Can you help me? I can't read the directions." I took a moment, read the directions, and gave her the paraphrased version.

But then, I added something. I said, "Of course, you don't have to do it that way. You could also do this... You could also do that..."

Her response? "Wow! I can do that because my teacher's not here, right?!"

I wanted to weep.