Maybe next time try the sports page...

[thisnewday]

A week or so ago, my son was getting his little boy ready to go somewhere. At age five, Little Jay is pretty good at getting himself dressed but sometimes has trouble finding the articles of clothing he seems to spontaneously shed as he walks in the door from pre-school or his mommy's or wherever else he's been.

Our biggest problem seems to be with shoes. One will be on the floor where everyone trips over it while its mate will have been kicked under the couch or somewhere else out of sight. Lately, though, it seems like they're usually left in the upstairs hall outside his daddy's room because, for whatever reason, no one is supposed to wear shoes into the room.

The same hallway has become the habitat of a rather psychotic little tiger cat that was rescued by my daughter when she was a vet tech in New York City. The cat is quite unpredictable in her behavior towards everyone else but predictably unfriendly towards Little Jay.

On this particular day, Little Jay was sent upstairs to see if his shoes were there. When he returned empty-handed, I asked, rhetorically I thought, "Not up there, huh?"

To which Little Jay replied, "They're by my daddy's door but Itsy (the cat) won't let me have them."

Thinking to help Little Jay "redefine" his relationship with his feline nemesis, I rolled up one of the smaller sections of the Sunday paper and said, "Take this upstairs with you and, if she gives you any trouble, let her have it."

A few minutes later, he was back downstairs without the shoes and without the newspaper.

Puzzled, I asked him what had happened.

"I gave her the newspaper," he said, "but she didn't want to read it."

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I knew what was coming but I still laughed.

Little kids are so literal. Once when I was babysitting, I told the little boy that he'd better not come inside with his wet bathing suit on.

So, he took it off in the backyard and came in naked.

[olbuksings.livejournal.com]

Hahaha. That sounds about right. Aren't they great?

[swamp-rose.livejournal.com]

My first thought was - what a good little boy, that he doesn't think violence ("giving it" to the cat) is the answer to conflict... but then, if he hasn't seen anyone "get it" how else was he to interpret it?

Kids will keep you young, if they don't drive you crazy first...