A mother’s little pieces of paper
On his “Kids Say the Darndest Things” television program, host Art Linkletter interviewed small children and had an uncanny ability to elicit funny responses from them. I think his show tickled the funny bone and nourished the heart of the nation. I wish we had more programs like his for families to watch today.
Like Linkletter’s guests, our children often blurted out the most outrageous and endearing things when they were young.
I tried to write down as many as I could but didn’t have time to chronicle all their sayings. However, I instinctively knew some were “unforgettables” and needed to be saved. So I began jotting them down on little pieces of paper – whatever was at hand.
Recently I was looking for some information in our older son’s baby book. Much to my surprise, when I opened the baby book all these little pieces of paper fell out. I started reading them and couldn’t stop laughing. The next day, I decided to look at our younger son’s book, and sure enough, the same thing happened.
What a trip down memory lane! As I read the pieces of paper, I could actually imagine where our children were and what we were doing when these precious gems rolled off their tongues.
One of my favorites was when our younger son was four years old and asked me if he could marry me when he grew up. I suggested we should ask daddy about that. To which he responded, “Oh, he’ll probably say no because you can’t be double married.”
Another favorite occurred when our older son was studying for his First Communion and I asked him how many persons are in one God. His reply, “Millions.” Then he added, “Well, we’re all in God’s heart and there are at least millions of us.”
I wish all the mothers in the diocese a very Happy Mother’s Day and hope those with little ones write down some of their children’s “unforgettable” comments for posterity.
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Pat Wargocki is a freelance writer in Tucson and a member of St. Francis de Sales Parish.