How to confuse a child #187

Yesterday a girlfriend of mine and her three kids picked me up to head over to a spring festival put on by a local martial arts group. We found the spot where it was but were disappointed to realize that there were only three booths – we had hoped for more. So we headed to the bigger park in town, hoping to catch some music and food there only to find that they were throwing out the last bags of trash from the party. As we decided to go back to Plan A, my girlfriend piped up with a big, enthusiastic:

“Let’s go back and party with the Pagans!”

“Party with the Penguins?” the nine-year-old asked quizzically.

“Penguins?!” the little one said, careening her head around to look out the window. “Where?!”

“Pay-guns,” their mother repeated with emphasis.

“Penguins?”

“NO,” she said. “PAY-GUNS.”

“What are pagans?” the oldest one asked.

We looked at each other, not knowing quite what to say next and made something up about nature and trees and religion and the earth.

“Oh,” the little one said. “I wanted a party with penguins.”

“Penguins can be nice, too. But I don’t think there are going to be any at this party.”

Maybe next year.