More Michael Stories

Michael's combination of pessimism and imagination make him a very interesting (and amusing) child. I spent a lot of time with him today, because I took him grocery shopping with me. We went to the air force base, which is a 30 minute drive each way, so we got to talk -- or at least he did. He started as soon as we got in the car and only paused long enough for my responses (if I didn't respond correctly, I got a "Mom, I'm talking to you!"). I just wanted to share two especially funny parts of the conversation.

Michael: "Boys can grow up and be cowboys and leaders and dads."
Me: "How many kids are you going to have when you're a dad?"
Michael: "I'm not going to be a dad! I'm going to be a cowboy!"
Me: "Can't you be dad, too?"
Michael: "Cowboys don't have kids!"

I think Michael needs exposure to more than one cowboy. Or maybe he just needs to recognize that he knows several happily paternal cowboys...

I did then explain to Michael that Grandpa is a cowboy, too, though he doesn't do as much cowboy stuff as he used, which led to the next funny piece.

Michael: "The Grandpa with hair or without hair?"
Me: "Which Grandpa has hair?"
Michael: "One Grandpa has no hair."
Me: "Which one is that?"
Michael: "The one that goes with the Grandma with curly hair."

Earlier today I had great insight into Michael's views on parental roles, as well. He commented on the family proclamation, so I asked if he knew what our jobs were in our family. He said he did, so I asked what daddy's job was. He replied, "To fix stuff." What's mommy's job? According to Michael, "To wash the dishes." And the kids' job is "to play." Which just left me wondering why I have to be the only one with a lousy job. I think we need to revamp things a bit...