Car Talk

My daughter recently purchased a very interesting book at her school book fair. She has entertained and sickened us with questions from the book all week long. Some questions have been perplexing, and others have been downright disgusting. I prefer the perplexing ones, the ones that spur additional conversations. She asked such a question this morning as I was driving her and her brother to school.

"Would you rather burn your mouth horribly every time you eat pizza, or never be able to eat pizza again?"

My answer was quick and sure: Never be able to eat pizza again.

The story followed.

When I was in elementary school, I went to a sleepover party for my friend Wendy. She had a September birthday, so her parents built a big bonfire outside for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

(The kids said, "What's a bonfire?" Seriously. What kind of parent am I?)

We roasted our hot dogs in the fire. I was a little too hungry, so as soon as my frankfurter was done, I took a big bite. Natch, I burned my tongue. Badly. Hurt like crazy. I hate burning my tongue.

So I shared that story with my kiddos. I put extra emphasis on how bad my tongue felt, how I kept sticking my tongue in my cup of icy Coca Cola. How I really, really hate burned tongue sensation. More tongue talk than I usually like that early in the morning.

So, I finished the tongue story and things were quiet for a moment.

Then I heard Aiden (6) say, in his usual monotone, "Yeah, but I bet the weiner tasted good."

Crack.Me.Up.

That kid makes me laugh SO HARD. I'm still smiling thinking about it.

Something tells me that's going to become an oft-repeated phrase in our house.

"Yeah, but I bet the weiner tasted good."

Goofball.