Very philosophical!

It's amazing how they always operate on a deeper level, isn't it? When he was 5, DS asked me about plants and when I started to explain their life cycle, he said "No, mommy! I know that. I want to know how the first plant grew. Where it came from." Ah, evolution then.

Before reading Harry Potter Book 1 & 2

DD5: Oh, Mommy, I know this isn't real. Harry Potter isn't real. Voldemort isn't real. I'm not scared so don't worry.

After reading Harry Potter Book 1 & 2

DD5: Mommy, there is a huge problem.
Me: Yes?
DD5: They don't have a music teacher at Hogwarts.
Me: Why is that a huge problem?
DD5: When I attend Hogwarts, I don't want to have to quit music.
Me: Why are you attending Hogwarts?
DD5: So I can become a Gryffindor.
Me: Are you sure courage is your defining quality?
DD5: What are you trying to imply, Mommy?

So apparently, my child who has often been skeptical about Santa believes in Harry Potter. The magic of childhood.

LOL! So my DD is not the only one!

She also gave up on Santa Claus very early, but cried on her 11th birthday because she didn't get an owl. :-(

DS4, true to our Canadian heritage, is composing his version of Bob and Doug McKenzie's parody of the 12 days of Christmas.

"On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

Three angry Darth Vaders,
Two frozen anuses,
And a beer."

Well, apparently our taste in gifts diverges. Dramatically. I'll keep this on file for his future spouse's reference.

aquinas - that one really takes me back!

i definitely did the exact same thing as a child with that exact song. i *wish* i could remember the lyrics more than the last line which for some reason was embellished to include a really big operatic finish - "rotten old stinky bananas..."

i've got one from the other night, when DD heard some details about the film Batman v. Superman...

DD8: "...But Jeremy Irons was Henry IV - what is he doing in a DC movie? i mean - besides WASTING HIS LIFE?"

At the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, I wanted to watch the Disney parade. My DS8 looked at me at one point and said, "All of this noise and these floats are making it hard for me to concentrate on my book."

My husband and I just burst out laughing, because our friends and family act like we "force" DS to read. They would never believe that he would chiose read at the most magical place on earth! I'm new to this forum, but I imagine that the parents here can relate.

ha, JessicaJune - yes, i think most parents here would say nearly everyone assumes that we're all strapping our kids down and generally flash-carding to them to death when nothing could be farther from the truth!

it's good to find your people, isn't it - welcome!

DG

We had so many books in DS11's carry on when we flew to visit family recently that security had to hand search it. On the way back we knew that would happen so he removed his books and put them in several bins, which avoided the wait which a hand search would have entailed. I really understand about the reading thing - my son has tried on numerous times to take books to read at a restaurant. That would be okay except they are huge hardbacks so they take up too much space…

You mean everyone else's kids DON'T take books to restaurants?

We have table rules, actually, including no reading materials at dinner. 'Cause the whole family dining thing doesn't work quite the same if everyone just sits at the table with their own books in front of their faces! When I was a child, we tried numerous legalisms to get around this, such as reading magazines or newspapers instead of books (which is how the rule became no reading materials, not no books), and laying books or mags open on the floor (not technically at the table!). Exceptions for menus and such already on the table in restaurants, of course.