So, this morning I'm driving Leif to school and he says to me:"Mommy, do you ever lie to me?"
Me (slightly startled): "No, Leif, I try not to....why?"
Leif: "Because I just think it would be really cute to see you hugging a baby hippo...(long pause where I say something like "oh")...It's just, I'm trying to steer my mind to the cute stuff."
So, there's my clue to following the Leif rabbit trail- that and the hippos. You see, last night, Leif was having trouble falling asleep.
I could tell he was legitimately troubled, so I agreed to cuddle with him.
Our conversation went something like this:
Leif: "Mom, are monsters real?"
Me: "No."
Leif: "What about big animals? Do they eat people?"
Me: "Yes, there are big animals who can eat people."
Leif: "Like Hippos? What if a giant hippo was trying to get me-"
At this point I interrupt: "Leif, you can't let your brain do this. At night especially, your imagination is going to take you to some pretty scary places if you let it. While you're still awake, you need to think of a happy story: something that made you laugh, or something you enjoyed. Think about that, and then if your mind starts to wander to the scary thoughts, you bring it back to that story, and soon you'll be fast asleep and dreaming."
After saying something like this, I answered a few more questions about hippos, including the fact that we don't have any hippos in Georgia for him to fear. I then made up a short story about his stuffed animals playing Angry Birds, and he fell asleep.
And so, you see, if I was telling the truth about having no hippos in Georgia, then he can't see me hug a baby hippo, and that would be sad.
And that folks, is Toddler Logic.
