She was mad that we wouldn't get up this morning. She usually sleeps in later than me. Today, she poked her head in and asked if it was Ok if she went potty. I should have known something was up then.
So, we poked around. She came downstairs and got her note from St. Nick and saw that she had a haul of Hello Kitty stuff in her stocking. And she kept looking around.
"Are you sure there aren't more presents from St. Nick?"
No, Jeni and I stood united. "No. Gaia. There aren't anymore presents. Don't be greedy." She sucked it up and pouted a bit and then went on a candy-cane bender.

Later.

We're picking up prescriptions and it turns out Santa is appearing at the store, so we head to the back so she can have a sit with Santa and say hello. "Will Santa have some presents for me?" Again. Jeni and I said no. "Don't be so greedy, Gaia." She sucked it up and went and sat on Santa's lap. Back at the front of the store she started to cry. "Oh no," she said. "I forgot to tell Santa I wanted a Barbie." I told her it was Ok, and that I'd tell Santa she wanted a Barbie when I called him at work on Monday.

Later still.

She's sobbing on the couch, and I've just barked at her for talking back and grumbling into her blanket. "In this family," I explain, "We talk to each other. If you have a problem or are upset, you tell your family, you don't tell it to your blanket under your breath."
She looks up at me from her tears. Her lip quakes and pools well in her eyes. And then the dam bursts. "I don't know when its Christmas!"

And it all clicks.
She's confused St. Nick's with Christmas. She has been frustrated all day because Jeni and I have not, from her perspective, been taking Christmas seriously. The tree's not even fully decorated yet! So we grabbed a calendar and some stickers and talked about the days of the week and the time between now and Christmas, and by the time we'd finished, she was laughing about how silly it all seemed.

She's four, but so very very smart. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have more thoughts than you have words for all the time. I must remember to ask her mother.