Mammal Eggs (June 5 2008)

I have a very vivid imagination. So do my children. I encourage this. A great imagination, I believe, is the stem of a great sense of humor, and individualism. To put it boldly I think people with no sense of humor are sad, sad creatures. In both the literal sense and not!

My kids love animals. We drive by a cow farm everyday on the way to school. When the cows are out, they are usually right by the fence grazing. The kids and I yell out "COWS!!" every time. The kids know that milk comes from cows. A few months back I told them when I was little, I used to think the brown cows made chocolate milk. They giggled and said I was silly. It got really quiet in the van for a bit. I could see their little wheels turning. Braden says to me, "Mommy, I think you were right. I think chocolate milk really DOES come from brown cows!!" I smiled and was in my glory. I was happy because I didn't TELL them whether it was true or not. I had simply stated what I had believed at one point, and to this day secretly wish chocolate milk really DID come from brown cows.

A few days later, my 7 year old nephew, Sam, asked me if this was all true. I turned it around on him and said "What do YOU think?" I wasn't gonna correct him and burst the "fun" for the other kids. I mean seriously. It's not like he asked what 10 + 10 was. I didn't actually TELL them this was true. It's no different than Santa Claus, tooth fairy, etc. Well, other than the fact a chocolate milk producing cow has never come into my home and left a gift for me while I slept. AND for the fact I HAVE convinced the kids that Santa, the tooth fairy etc WERE true...But that's beside the point!!

This morning on the way to school we, like always, drove past the cows. Braden piped up from the backseat, "Mommy. I know that the brown cows and all the other cows all make regular milk. I just like to pretend." I smiled and told him I liked pretending to.
My youngest nephew Alex, who is 4, got all excited and said "Nannie!!! (their nickname for me) I see a cow laying down! It must be a tired mommy cow!" I chuckled and asked "why do you think it's a tired mommy cow?" He said, with a great enthusiasm, "Because it's hard work keeping chocolate her cow eggs warm and getting them ready to hatch!!"

Lesson on mammals tomorrow.