Learn Hardcore Croatian: Teta misli da smo malo neuredni, ali da smo inače dobra djeca. - My aunt thinks that we are a bit messy, but that we are otherwise good children.

It can mean biological or married-in aunt.
It’s also commonly used for a friendly adult woman (a neighbour, babysitter, kindergarten teacher, etc.), especially when children are speaking.

So context decides whether you translate it as aunt, lady, babysitter, teacher, etc.

What does da do in misli da smo malo neuredni and da smo inače dobra djeca?

Here da means that and introduces a subordinate clause, just like English that in:

She thinks *that we are a bit messy.*
She thinks *that we are otherwise good children.*

So misli da… = (she) thinks that…, and da smo = that we are. It’s not the da that means so that / in order to; it’s a conjunction meaning that.

Why is the verb smo (we are) in that position? Why not at the very end?

Smo is a clitic (an unstressed short word) and Croatian clitics follow fairly strict word-order rules.

In clauses like da smo malo neuredni, clitics usually:

come very early in the clause, typically right after da or the first stressed word,
not at the end like in English.

So da smo malo neuredni is normal; da malo neuredni smo would sound wrong.

What does malo mean here? Is it little or a little bit?

In this sentence malo means a little / a bit / slightly, softening the adjective:

neuredni = messy, untidy
malo neuredni = a bit messy, slightly untidy

It’s an adverb of degree here, not small. Small would usually be mali (masculine), mala, malo (adjectives).

Could I say malo smo neuredni instead of smo malo neuredni? Is the word order flexible?

You can say malo smo neuredni, and it is still correct.

The differences:

da smo malo neuredni is the most neutral: that we are a bit messy.
da malo smo neuredni is possible but sounds a bit marked or emphatic, like stressing malo (we ARE a bit messy).

The standard, most natural version here is da smo malo neuredni.

Why is it neuredni but dobra djeca? Why not dobri djeca?

Two different agreements are happening:

Neuredni agrees with we (mi):
- mi (we, including at least one male) → neuredni (masculine plural)
Dobra agrees with djeca:
- djeca (children) is grammatically neuter plural (historically plural of dijete)
- neuter plural adjective form is dobra

So:

mi smo neuredni = we are messy (masc. pl.)
mi smo dobra djeca = we are good children (adj. neuter plural agreeing with djeca)

Dobri djeca is incorrect; it breaks the agreement with djeca.

Why is it dobra djeca and not dobru djecu?

Dobra djeca is in the nominative plural, because it’s the complement of smo (we are):

Mi smo dobra djeca. = We are good children.
(we = subject in nominative, dobra djeca = what we are → also nominative)

Dobru djecu would be accusative plural, used for direct objects:

Vidimo dobru djecu. = We see good children.

After biti (to be) you normally use nominative, not accusative.

What does inače mean here?

Inače can mean otherwise, in general, normally, or even by the way, depending on context.

In this sentence it means roughly:

in general / normally / apart from that

So inače dobra djeca = (we are) generally / otherwise good children.

Can inače move to a different place in the sentence?

Yes, inače is fairly flexible. All of these are possible (with slightly different emphasis):

… da smo inače dobra djeca. (neutral)
… da smo dobra djeca inače. (mild emphasis at the end)
Inače smo dobra djeca, ali teta misli da smo malo neuredni. (fronted for contrast: As a rule we’re good kids…)

The original position, between smo and dobra, is very natural.

Why is da smo repeated after ali? Could we say something shorter?

The full form is:

Teta misli da smo malo neuredni, ali da smo inače dobra djeca.

You can shorten it to:

Teta misli da smo malo neuredni, ali inače dobra djeca.
Teta misli da smo malo neuredni, ali da smo inače dobra djeca (as given)
You could also rephrase: … ali misli da smo inače dobra djeca.

Repeating da smo makes the parallel between the two clauses very clear and slightly more formal/explicit. Native speakers often do repeat it in such structures.

If the children are all girls, does neuredni change? What about dobra djeca?

If we are all girls, adjectives agreeing with mi change to feminine plural, but adjectives agreeing with djeca stay neuter plural:

mixed group or at least one boy: mi smo malo neuredni
all girls: mi smo malo neuredne

However, djeca is still neuter plural in grammar, regardless of real-life gender, so:

mi smo dobra djeca stays dobra djeca in all cases (boys, girls, or mixed).