ME: No, honey, our printer is broken.
MADELEINE: (sighing in disappointment) Oh. Because Mama. I was thinking about those pictures of Americans that we printed that we could color in.
ME: Do you want to draw a picture?
MADELEINE: Uh, yeah, maybe I'll draw a picture. Mama? I'm gonna draw a picture of an American.
Here's her picture of an American:
Apparently she was thinking of Native Americans, which led me to wonder why she was reminiscing about the Thanksgiving pictures we had printed over a year ago. I mean, I would have thought, given the fact that the Fourth of July is quickly approaching, that she was thinking about the Stars and Stripes kind of Americans. I decided to delve further into her thought process.
ME: Madeleine, what was making you think about Native Americans?
MADELEINE: Well, I was thinking about, like, Thanksgiving stuff...
ME: Oh, I see.
MADELEINE: And Mama? What comes BEFORE Thanksgiving?
ME: Uh...Halloween.
MADELEINE: No. Mama. RIGHT before Thanksgiving.
ME: What do you mean?
MADELEINE: What's RIGHT before Thanksgiving?
ME: Um, Julia's birthday?
MADELEINE: No, Mama. Like. What's the DAY. What comes before Thanksgiving. What's the day BEFORE Thanksgiving?
ME: It's just a regular day.
MADELEINE: No, Mama. What is it BEFORE Thanksgiving?
ME: Well, there's no "Thanksgiving Eve" the way we have with Christmas.
MADELEINE: No. Mama. What is it right before Thanksgiving?
ME: I don't really understand what you mean. What are you trying to ask?
MADELEINE: Like, what season or holiday is it before Thanksgiving?
ME: Well, Julia's birthday comes right around-
MADELEINE: (who CLEARLY does not view Julia's birthday as anything of interest) NO. MAMA. What SEASON OR HOLIDAY.
ME: Well, Halloween is the nearest holiday before Thanksgiving.
MADELEINE: (satisfied) Oh. Halloweeeeny!
ME: Why? What is making you want to know what comes before Thanksgiving?
MADELEINE: (irritably) Because. Mama. You were asking me what made me think about Native Americans.
Wait. THAT'S why she was asking that completely obtuse question of me? It's MY doing? I asked her why she was thinking about Native Americans and that made her desperately need to know what's right before Thanksgiving? (And then reject the very same answer that she then accepted later in the whole interrogation process??) I should have just kept my mouth shut and saved us both a good chunk of time spent talking in circles.
I don't know about you, but I am pushing thoughts of Halloween and Thanksgiving far from my mind and focusing instead on the fact that we are now on summer vacation! But wait. What's BEFORE summer vacation? What's the DAY BEFORE summer vacation? What season or holiday is it? If anyone knows the answer, feel free to answer in the comment section!
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