Dino-Love

Yesterday, I had a day off.

Nope, I didn't TAKE a day off; I was just given a day off. Without asking. Or planning. (Thank you, Dead Presidents!) And, somehow, the distinction made it like a Monday that never existed. ...In the nicest, least-Freaky Friday sort of way. I stayed in at-home-stasis for three days, then my work week jumpstarted on a Tuesday. Now, it's TUESDAY night instead of Monday, and I'm one day closer to another weekend! Yee-ha!

On another note: Miles is becoming one of those skinny little kids obsessed with dinosaurs. Really! (I guess I'm still surprised as I type.) Personally, before parenthood, I always thought dinosaur obsession was more nerdy lore ("And when last year's defending spelling champion was only 6, he memorized all the living creatures of the Mesozoic Era -- in alphabetical order!") than real-world specimen. A character sketch kinda thing, like Ross from Friends. But, again, what did I know? Our toddler could pronounce "Triceratops" and "Stegosaurus" before he could reliably use the toilet. And, oh, how his dino-lore has deepened since then.

An actual monologue from today follows.
"Dinosaurs didn't live very long, did they, Mom? [Ed Note: Here he gives me NO pause for a thoughtful answer, preferring to reply to himself in that confident yet grating way that will eventually make smart, competitive girls roll their eyes at him.] Well, they lived before people. And now we live, so there are no more dinosaurs. And that makes them extinct. People die in Heaven, but dinosaurs died in the ground. People are in Heaven now, but not dinosaurs. They're in the dirt. And, then, eventually, their skin fell off. And then their bones. And then rocks covered them. And lots of more heavy dirt. And, and, TREES! And then builder guys came and built houses on top of them, and the people showed up to live. So now we all live here, and there are no more dinosaurs...

...Right, Mom?"

I might have nodded or mumbled "Oh... Uh-huh!" But really I was reverting to pre-mother-of-a-son thinking, something along the lines of, "I'll only start to worry if he begins to spell their names. He has other interests... Everything here is A-OK..."

I may also have sworn this personal pact: "When he decides to make his own dinosaur flash cards, we're definitely getting a dog. A BIG, take me outdoors kind of dog."
[Sidenote: Yes, it IS totally ridiculous that I would think our child needs motivation to go outside. He runs in cirlces for fun. Hauls 5-foot downed tree limbs to other people's homes. Flings himself off ladders, slides and tree fort stairs. He's an outdoorsy kind of guy.]

Then I realized I have nothing to worry about. I bet Indiana Jones loved dinosaurs as a boy, too. And we ALL know how completely cool and well-rounded Indiana Jones turned out to be! Although, to be fair, Indy DID have a dog....