The Loser

Julia has been really interested in her collection of Shel Silverstein poems lately, and is especially obsessed with the poem "The Loser." For those who are not familiar with this poem, the basic gist is that the narrator has lost his head and can't look for it, call to it, hear it, think about it, etc. because his eyes, ears, brain and what not are in it. So he sits down for a minute on a "rock" (which happens to be his head) to rest. Julia is simultaneously fascinated by and terrified of the picture that accompanies this poem:

We were recently driving in the car and Julia suddenly asked me, "Mom? Why do they have a lot of losers at the mall?" At first I had no idea what she was talking about; my first instinct was that Ethan had slipped up and made some derogatory comment about teenage mall rats to Julia. After mulling over how to try and respond to her question, it suddenly dawned on me. I asked her, "Do you mean why do they have a lot of mannequins?" Apparently she remembered that in the GAP at the Chestnut Hill Mall, the mannequins are all headless. And apparently to Julia a "loser" means someone who is missing a head. At least I don't have to worry about her calling other kids losers, unless, of course, she happens to make any headless friends.