She's Not Wrong
I've been throwing around broken promises like confetti lately, so by the time Sunday rolled around, it was time for The Alexis Show. Whatever she wanted all day long. All of it. No matter how insane it sounded.
Her list: Phipps, library, and the zoo. Oh, and a picnic lunch.
The amazing part is that it was all accomplished. Part of the magic became possible when she made her own picnic lunch and then ended up eating it in the car because she was too hungry to wait, but the other part was just a matter of her making good decisions.
She decided to check out 8 books at the library and not read a single one while we were there. That made it a very efficient stop.
Then, there was Phipps, where the efficiency came to a screeching halt. Because ... butterflies.
We have a Phipps membership because the best way to survive a miserable winter is to spend part of it staring at pretty flowers. The month or so when the butterflies are there is just a bonus.
My plan for the butterfly room was to use my longest lens to get as many butterfly photos as possible before Alexis turned into a pumpkin and demanded that we move on. She does that a lot at Phipps--she wants to explore every inch of it at mach speed. She meanders around as fast as she can, somewhat like something out of a Family Circus cartoon.
The best laid plans are often ruined, though.
Ruined in a good way, that is. Rather than getting a ton of photos thanks to preparation, I was caught on my heels and trying to take a totally different type of photo because Alexis discovered that a Phipps employee was standing guard over the newly hatching butterflies and was letting kids hold them.
Which, of course, turned into Alexis holding a butterfly. Or three.
She pretty much thought it was the greatest thing ever. I dare you to disagree with her. Be warned: she'll cut you.
As we were walking out of the butterfly room, Alexis had a question. "How can you tell if a butterfly is a boy or girl?" she asked.
My mind went places that it shouldn't have, but my mouth was wise enough to cover for my immaturity. "I don't know," I said. "Maybe you should ask the woman by the chrysalises."
Alexis darted back to ask her. It was explained to her that most of the butterflies at Phipps are boys because the don't want a bunch of eggs all over the place and because boys have brighter colors.
"Why do the boys have brighter colors?" she asked.
Of course, the answer was so that they can have better luck attracting a mate.
Alexis pondered that little bit of trivia for a bit. She pondered and she pondered and she pondered. Then she said, "Momma, it's a good thing human boys don't have to be pretty to find a mate because they would all be in BIG trouble. They don't even know how to wear clothes that match!"
So there's that.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Reader Comments (9)
You have raised a wise young lady. My son wears the most mis-mated outfits. I used to make him change into something that matches, but now I just let him be himself no matter how horrid the color choices.
Uh. She's a GENIUS.
Very insightful, that one.
That made me smile!
That's hilarious.
I was recently excited to take my kids to The Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago mostly because of their butterfly room, but the boy was afraid of them! He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Standing by a giant taxidermied polar bear in attack position was no problem, but the butterflies were apparently terrifying.
She is so smart!!
She is so smart!!
bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahaha!
No arguments here!
I'm so glad that you have to do that, too. Make up for not being able to keep promises even when you REALLY want to keep those promises.