Monday, April 20, 2009

A Heartbreaking Anecdote Revealing Staggering Genius

Since this is a mom blog, I like to indulge myself every so often with little snippets of the darnedest thing my tot does and says, as they are all wont to do.

Scenario:

Crabkid (age 4.5) climbs out of the bath. As always, I dry between her little toes and tell her that if we don't, "mushrooms will grow between them." Then I pretend to spot one and eat it. It is pink and delicious! But Crabkid appears to be outgrowing this sort of nonsense:

"That's not real," she says, full of scorn. "You always tell me things that aren't real."

"So what do you believe in?" I'm genuinely curious to hear the answer. Crabkid has always seemed skeptical about the usual fantastical things of childhood, politely listening to tales of Easter bunnies and Santa Claus but never really seeming to be swept away by the magic. "You believe in Santa Claus, right?" I test her. "And fairies?"

She shrugs, noncommittal.

"Tell me, what do you believe in?" I ask again.

"Chicken nuggets." And then she adds, "and people."

Isn't she a nugget of delight?

Why, thank you. I agree.

11 comments:

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah said...

I too, believe in chicken nuggets.

Jill said...

In my house at least, chicken nuggets reveal themselves much, much more often than either the Easter Bunny or Santa, so I'd believe in them if I were her too!

Lawyer Mom said...

She's got an excellent grasp of reality, I'd say (assuming she means Chik-Fil-A nuggets . . . I don't believe in any other kind).

Villagepig said...

I love these nuggets (heh geddit?) of amazing insight. My in-laws have loads of cassette tapes from when my hubby & his brother were kids. They used to put a little tape recorder in the room with the boys while they were playing and listen back later.

The tapes are so funny that we're thinking we might do the same thing. Hell, at the very least we'll be able to document all the gems and maybe sell them to the ghighest bidder!

At least you know for certain (well, besides the biology of it) that Crab-tot is definitely yours, she has that same turn of phrase ;-)

VP

tonypark said...

Of course, she'll be devastated when she grows up and finds out there's no chicken in those nuggets.

But a lovely story. She's a chip off the old shell, no doubt.

Daisy said...

chicken nuggets! Not fairies? Or Santa?

Ravi said...

A similar quote from my daughter, similarly pertaining to reality and unreality:
"Dad, I like everyone in the world. Especially pirates. Except for real pirates."

Since then she's decided she doesn't even like pretend pirates because in order to play at being a pirate, you have to actually be mean.

crabmommy said...

Classic, Ravi!
Ah, lessons learned already by one so young: what we are drawn to and disapprove of are sometimes one and the same!
Crabkid is also sorting out whether she likes pirates or not. Me too.

crabmommy said...

tonypark, please weigh in on pirates. Everyone, tonypark, a regular Crabmom commenter, is about to publish a swashbuckling novel about modern pirates in Africa! He has published many books. Go get them. Tony is in fact so powerful a writer he even got some Somalian pirates to do a US-targeted marketing campaign for him! Way to go, Tonypark!

Carolyn said...

Yes! How about Trader Joe's frozen meatballs???

TheBrassHussy said...

I can tell I'm going to love this blog. I have lots of boy child stories I could tell.

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