Conversation I Never Anticipated Having #1283

You know how, every now and then, you have a conversation with a kid and think, "There's no way I could have ever guessed I'd have this conversation... EVER!" I just had one of those moments.

The setting:

Alecia and I were getting the Christmas tree ready to decorate. I was stringing the lights, and she was checking each strand to make sure the lights all worked. One set was not as bright as the others, so I set it aside. I hoped not to use it, but as I got closer to the end, it became obvious that I'd have to if I wanted to cover the whole tree.

The conversation:

Alecia: "Using dull lights is better than using no lights at all. Just like having a dead cat is better than having no cat at all."

Me: "What?! I'm pretty sure that I'd rather have no cat than to have a dead cat."

Alecia: "You can still pet a dead cat."

Me: "Ew! Yeah, until it gets all diseased!"

Alecia: "Imagine if you were very poor and very hungry. I'm betting you'd much rather have a dead cat that you can eat instead of no cat at all. Before it gets all diseased, of course."



As a mom, I prefer to think of this conversation in two ways:

1. That was a very "glass half full" way to look at it.
2. If Alecia were ever stranded in the wilderness, with no hope of rescue, she'd be able to survive.

As a mom, I prefer to NOT think of this conversation this way:

That whenever Alecia pets a cat, she is thinking, "Mmm. Dinner."