One of the strangest things about being a parent is realizing that the things that you tell your children will enter their sweet little brains and come out nonsensical. The results are often amazing, awe-inspiring and often very, very funny.
For instance, on the way home from work and day care, my daughter and I had a lovely conversation that became strange. A brief side note: both of my children call me "Mama." It makes me feel like I should be wearing a bonnet and living in a little house on the prairie.
"Mama? When are we going to have another baby that is not my brother or me?"
"Yeah, you will have to ask your father about that."
"So mama, 'member when we were giraffes and I was in your tummy?"
"Um, no. We were never giraffes."
At this point, I can see her looking at me like I am an idiot.
"No, mama. 'Member that time we watched the video of the giraffes on dad's phone? We were giraffes!"
I realized at this point what she was talking about.
A few months ago, my husband and I showed our kids the livefeed video of the giraffe giving birth in the zoo. I must have said something like "you were in my tummy like that." Now, our daughter thinks the giraffe video was a home video of me giving birth to her.
"We were never giraffes, sweetie.You were a human baby in my tummy."
Puzzled expression.
"So you were a giraffe?"
"No. No one was a giraffe. And there are no videos of me giving birth to you."
She seemed a little disappointed.
I have to admit, after a lifetime of being fairly short, being a giraffe for a bit with a long graceful neck would be kind of amazing. Imagine the chaos in a hospital if women spontaneously turned into wild animals pending the birth of their children. Given the fairly intense nature of childbirth, it seems not far from the truth.
Regardless of how my day is going, a conversation with my children that I don't understand is guaranteed to cheer me up. If you are feeling blue, talk to a child and ask them their opinion on how the world works.
You won't regret it.
