I had this beautiful idea of doing a post from the point of view of our three year old daughter and her views on living on a boat. I pictured giggles and laughs coming from her every answer in the style of “Kids Say the Darndest things”. It was a bit of a fail. Instead what I got was my daughter getting antsy trying to sit around answering questions about a life that to her seems to be the most normal of things. Why would people ask me these kinds of things!? And no matter how many times I tried re-wording the questions to help her understand that not everyone lives like us, when asked questions like “what is your favorite thing to do on the boat” she would give me answers like “sit around and cuddle with you”. Although these answers warmed my heart they are not exactly the outcome I imagined. Some of her answers were spot on, some others were a little sad, and some were just straight forward. I had a list of questions that came from different readers, read on for the Confessions of our Three Year Old Skipper. (NB. If there are any grammer mistakes they come straight from our 3 year olds mouth, I didn’t want to re-write anything, it’s just like she said it.)

Q: does she feel she has a normal life? or does she know she is a lucky girl?
A: Yeah its normal. Anyone can come and live on a boat and go sailing.

Q: what’s her favourite part about living on a boat?
A: Playing with toys, because I like to do that. The best toy I have is the puppy that i dropped in the water. He’s gone forever. Oh and playing on the ipad. And finding small shells on the beach.

Q: what does she do when she feels too hot? when does she get scared? about what?
A: Hmm, I go to a shady spot and I take my clothes off. I get scared when the pretend monsters from my imagination come out. If I get scared I hide in places where its fun to play. Sailing doesn’t scare me, I be happy. (When sailing, if she gets scared she) I go to sleep.

Q:What is her favorite thing to do? What is her least favorite?
A: To play with friends. I don’t like when I get consequences for being bad, like losing my teddy bear at sleepy time.

Q: what does she think other girls her age do day to day? or what does she think she would be doing if she didnt get to be on the boat, if it makes more sense that way???
A: Other kids are playing on their boats. Some people live in houses, like Jaala and Cyra and Uncle Bastien (family). The mamas do mama things, the papas do papa things, the kids play with toys, go to school, and they play in the play parks.

Q: Why is Mommy always sipping on the sleepy juice??
A: Because they like the mama-papa drinks. They’re pretty.

Q: what advice would she give to our kids and to us as parents soon to be live aboards?
A: Tell the kids to play a lot. Buy lots of bread and cheese, and oatmeal. Remember that you are not living in a house, you can fall in the water. They have to sail on their boat, a lot.

Q:  Is it hard to get up on the head?
A: **giggle** No. You step on the step and then climb up on to the toilet with my knees.

Q: What is her “title” on the boat? What’s her least favorite boat chore? What’s the most fun thing she’s ever done on the boat?
A: I’m Little Girl on Necesse. I like cleaning up my toys. I’m a big girl helper. I like to help making supper. On the boat I like to sing and swim with the dolphins.

Q: Where do you go potty? What’s your favorite sea animal?
A: I go in the toilet.  Dolphins are my favorite, oh no, turtles. I miss my friends when we go sailing. I call them on the phone. and I make new friends.

Q: How does it feel at sea? What do you like to eat? Where do you like to play and with what/who? What are the best games?
A: Yes, its fun to sail. Because its fun to drive the boat, eating breakfast, go to new beaches, sing songs. So I like to eat strawberries, pineapple, apples, Mahi, grouper, that’s it. I like to play with my friends, play with my toys and share with them. I don’t have any little friends right now. Maybe soon when I get older and go to school. My Eva is coming to see me on her boat.

Q: What’s her favorite place on the boat?
A: my bedroom because I like my room and my big girl bed.

Q: what makes her happy and why?
A: I’m happy when I don’t get in trouble. Playing with Ellia makes me just a little happy.

Q: What is the worst meal (and best) you have had? And why was it the worst?
A: Pizza and salad, noodle soup, grilled cheese. The yuckiest was peaches when they were not ripe because it wasn’t ready.

Q: what have you secretly thrown overboard?
A: (there were no secrets, she has told us every time these went into the sea) my puppy, my bubble stem, and my little mermaid.

   Although these answers were not what I was expecting, it made me happy to see that our daughter thinks nothing strange of our lifestyle. She still makes her own fun, feels safe and loved, and ended up thinking that I was the strange one asking her all these questions about why she does the things she does.