Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Recently I've been amused by the things my kids say...

When they've locked their car door and I ask them to unlock it (the driver door is unlocked, don't worry!), I hear "[giggle] I did it for a reason!!"

When they've watched a little too much of PBS's Sid the Science Kid, I hear "Mom! I took my shoes off in the name of science!!"

When they see a rather large woman in the motorized shopping cart at Wal Mart, I hear "What's that thing?"

But today, I hit the moment I was hoping would never happen. As a mom, I've always wished that my children would learn whispering and empathy before they learned to ask about everything, but I believe that's not the case for any child. We had gone to HEB for our weekly shopping trip (you know, the usual meat, fruit and four gallons of milk trip), and we were checking out. The man sacking our groceries is frequently working, and is extremely friendly. The only thing of note, is that he only has one hand. He is actually quite talented at working with both his right and and his left handless arm, and I'm always in awe of his dexterity (you see where this is going...)

I asked the man if he would give the kids an HEB sticker (the ones used for large items that aren't bagged) since I forgot to print them extra produce stickers like I usually do. Naturally, he uses the handed arm and the handless one with ease and gives each kid a green sticker. I make sure the kids use their good manners and thank him, and head off with my basket of groceries. As were rounding the end of the checkout counter, behind the nice man, Claire asks in what is quite possibly her loudest speaking voice, "Why that man doesn't have a hand?"

I answered "I don't know" fairly quietly, so she asked again. I'm sure the man hears that all the time, and I love the innocence of my children, but I don't look forward to the rest of these uncomfortable encounters!

~K