Deep thoughts, by Liam Emanuel

Randomly, in the car this past weekend, Liam asked, "When the police shoot bad guys, do they bury them?" Naturally, this spurred one more fascinating conversation stream, as follows:
Me: Um, well, if the bad guy died, he would have a funeral so his family could come and say goodbye to him before he was buried.
Liam: Bad guys have families? Why?
Me: Well, (note my favorite word for giving myself another moment to think) even people who make bad choices have people who love them. Everyone has parents, some people have brothers, sisters, friends, and grown-ups can be married . .. .
(Pause)
Liam: Oh. So why are they bad guys?
Me: Well, it isn't that easy. No one is all bad or all good. People just make good decisions or bad decisions. Bad guys are just people who make really bad decisions that can hurt other people.
Liam: Then why do police shoot them?
Me: Well, police don't want to shoot or hurt anyone, but they will if someone won't stop being bad, and they need to protect someone else. But they don't like hurting people, even people making bad decisions. If they liked to shoot people, they wouldn't be police officers, they'd be bad guys.
Liam: Oh.
Another day of deep thoughts. Whew.

Little carnivore

On the way home yesterday, I asked Liam what he did in school that day. He told me that were learning about Halloween. When I asked what sorts of things they learned, he told me he drew a picture of bats. This prompted further conversation on bats:
Liam: What do bats eat?
Me: Mosquitos and other bugs.
Liam: And fruit.
Me: Yes, some bats eat fruit.
Liam: What do vampire bats eat?
Me: Um, blood.
Liam: Whose blood?
Me: (thinking how fortunate it was that I studied vampire bats in an animal behavior class in college) Sheep, goats, that sort of animal. Maybe cows.
Liam: What about horses?
Me: (Shoot! I don't remember!) Um, sure, probably horses, too.
Liam: I like cows.
Me: (phew! a change of subject!) Great! What do you like about cows?
Liam: I like meat. It's healthy.
Me: Uh, yeah. Sure.
Liam: It's in the same group as nuts.
Me: Yes it is, yes it is.
I guess they are learning about more than just Halloween. Who would have thought I'd have a child who like cows because they are tasty?

Return of Flesh-Colored Person

In the tradition of the doll that I named "Flesh-colored person" when I was a little girl, the boys and I had some discussions about skin color today. First, I was coloring with Finn and using the "peach" crayon to draw Finn's face. He asked me what color the crayon was, and when I told him, he declared it was not peach. He's right, the color really isn't the same as the fruit. I am pretty sure this is the same crayon that, in days gone by, was called "flesh". What color is it anyway? Maybe Liam knows . . .

Later, Matt and I were discussing white boy rappers (don't ask!) and Liam overheard. Naturally, he wanted to know what white boy rappers were. I started to explain by asking him what color his skin was. He replied, "khaki-ish." Touche. Fortunately, the conversation ended there. Might khaki-sih be a new crayon color, perhaps?

Finn's first pun

Liam found a fly swatter on the porch today, and he started pretending to swat everything. Next thing you know, the boys are singing, "Shoo fly, don't bother me." A little while later, as we were getting ready to go out, Finn picked up my shoes in his hands, sang "Shoe fly, don't bother me," and laughed hysterically.