What's the world coming to...?

There is a 4 year old who lives two doors down from us who is just adorable. She has long hair and is always in a dress and always has her fingernails and toenails painted to match. She's very outgoing and always comes up to the door when she sees Mom or I on the porch. She is very bright and very articulate for a 4 year old. And she can be kind of demanding, at times. She demands to come in, she demands to see the dogs, she opens doors on her own and one day the neighbors came home to find her in their house and half way up the stairs!

We affectionately refer to her as the "spawn of satan".

Mom loves kids and animals. That said, I was afraid this kid would come up sometime when I'm not around and come in and accidentally let the dogs out. If the dogs got out, Mom would naturally try and chase addie down (to no avail, I'm sure) and get lost in the process. Not only that, the other day the little spawn came riding down the street on her tricycle with a kitten in her basket. Well, that was all Mom needed to run out the front door and coo all over her and that kitten. And pretty soon she was off and down the street with the kid and the kitten. I kept an eye on her to make sure she made it back home. So, I decided to let this kid in the house a couple of times. She is so demanding and overbearing, that even Mom noticed, and was alarmed by it. And that is exactly what I wanted to happen. I let her in and she ran through the house and wanted to see this and that and Mom watched her going 100 mph and when I made her leave, fianlly, she demanded to be able to stay. I don't think anyone has ever been stern with her, which is probably why she is like she is...so I mustard up the 'mean' look and told her, in no uncertain terms, that if she was ever going to come over here again, she was going to play by MY rules. She is never allowed to open any doors or gates without me being there, she had to LISTEN (we have to go over that one a lot--every time she's here), and no cussing. Yep, belive it or not, that is a biggie. She hasn't done any of it at my house, but I was talking to her Mom one day in their yard and she called her own Mom an MF...only she said the whole two words. Wow. And she'll flip people off. Mostly older kids. I don't let her see me laugh, but that is quite funny, to see that tiny, chubby middle finger pop up when some older kid tells her to go home. Suprisingly, she understood the rules at my house, but Mom has seen enough, I think. lol. When she sees her coming down the street on her tricycle, Mom will go in the house and close the door.

She did that very thing one day and I said, "Mom, what's the world coming to when we have to barricade our doors from a 4 year old?"

She laughed. And agreed.