Age 2:
"Mommy, do chickens eat cookies?"
"Ummm...no. I don't believe they do."
"Why not?"
"Well, they were not made to eat cookies. The opportunity doesn't often present itself, I guess."
"Yes, but do chickens have lips?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake. No, they have a beak. Hey, look, we're almost at the park. Do you have your water bottle?"
"I want to be a racecar when I grow up. Can I?"
"You can drive a racecar, perhaps, but no, really you can't become one. You are a human being."
"But I want to be a racecar."
"Son, you're 2 years old. Give your career goals some TIME. Oh, look! There's the park."
Conversations with a 9-year-old can be just as offbeat. Like the time this same funny boy came to me extremely concerned that our dog, Liesel, possibly thought that he was just a fellow canine.
He said, "But Mom, how do you know that she knows I'm a person? Maybe she thinks I am another dog. I don't want her to think I'm like the other dogs around here. I'm really human. Do you think she knows?"
"Yes, Son, she knows."
"But how do you know that she knows? She can't see herself, so she may not know what she is, or what I am."
"Trust me. She knows that she's a dog and you are a boy. A human boy."
"But how do you know that?"
"I just do. She is quite aware that you are NOT a dog like her."
"How can you be sure?"
"Go clean your room."
Years later...
"Can my hen climb down a tree?"
"No, that would be impossible."
"I put her up there and she's cackling."
"What on earth ... how high?"
"Really high."
"Which tree?"
"You know ... that pine tree out front. And the rooster is at the bottom, all nervous."
