Marisa's Laughter Page
February 28, 2002
Kids say the...well, you know what kind of things they say!
This month my baby turned seven. That's right, SEVEN. I can hardly believe it. I see other people I know with little newborns and I think, "How did I do that?" And then I wonder where the time went.
One night a few weeks ago I came home from a long day at work to find my husband and kids in front of the TV, watching home videos. I couldn't help myself - I started crying, realizing that those days were over, and hoping that I wouldn't spend the next seven to ten years in a blur just like that workday had been.
Fortunately, I have a lot of good memories of those days. Of course one of the fondest memories for most parents is when we recall the funny things our kids said. I still get a laugh out of remembering things my baby brother said when he was little. I used to tease him unmercifully, saying "Trever is a baby!" in that "Nanny-nanny-boo-boo" tone of voice. Trever would run to our mom and say, "Ma-ma, 'Risa said me a baby." Which, of course, only proved my point!
Just because MY baby is seven now doesn't mean he isn't still capable of entertaining me. In fact, he seems to be wittier now than ever, and most of his humor sounds pretty funny coming from such a little kid. I MUST share these three recent stories.
A few weeks ago, my daughter and I had a girls' night out, and dad and the boy stayed at home to watch TV. For whatever reason, the hubby thought the kid would like to see "Planet of the Apes." I probably would've protested, had I been home, but alas, that wasn't the way it happened. A few nights later, we were all home for an evening (which is rare considering my husband is a musician) and he suggested that we ALL see the movie. My daughter wasn't really excited about this prospect, but she went along.
Near the end of the movie (and I really hope I'm not spoiling the ending for anyone, but I figure that anyone who wanted to see the movie has probably already done so), there is a scene where the main character lands in what appears to be Washington, DC. He thinks he is at the Lincoln Memorial, but when he looks at the "man" in the chair, he sees an ape's head. My son said, "Look! It's Ape-raham Lincoln."
A couple weeks later came the Daytona 500. My grandmother was staying with us and she doesn't like crowds, so my daughter stayed home with her while the boy and I went to church. On the way home, we were listening to the race, and the announcer said, "There are 43 cars in the field today." (To me that's kind of silly - there are always 43 cars in the first lap of the race!) My son said, "There used to be 44." I replied, "No, there's always been 43, at least for a long time there has." He said, "Oh, so they replaced him."
I realized then that he was talking about Dale Earnhardt. I said, "Yeah, they did replace him. You know, Dale Earnhardt wasn't the first driver to get killed driving a race car."
His reply? "I know. Racing's dangerous. That's why Martin Luther King didn't want people to do it."
I knew a discussion of racism was about to ensue, but I couldn't start that until I quit the belly-laughing five minutes later! I'd thought he understood why we honor Dr. King, and here he just thought the man was trying to keep people from driving race cars!
The very next day I got another huge laugh. I was cleaning out the bathtub, preparing it for his bath. I told him to get his clothes and to brush his teeth. He groaned as he came into the bathroom. "Mom," he complained, "My toothbrush is nasty." The only problem with it was a little dried toothpaste. I told him he'd be going to the dentist the next week, and he could wait until then to get a new toothbrush. I suggested he use the electric toothbrush his grandmother gave him. He groaned again and said, "But it's got other people's toothpaste in it!"
Perplexed, I looked up from the tub and said, "Nobody uses your toothbrush but you!"
He didn't miss a step as he said, "Oh yeah? Well, I've been using this one to clean out the sink!"
This page was started on August 23, 2001
last updated July 23, 2002
Copyright 2001, Rissy's Treasures