Pleasant Dreams And Contradictions

Here are two recent conversations I had with my son.

The first was when I went in one morning to wake him up. Small children share a trait I had previously only noticed in dogs: when you wake them up, they're genuinely happy to be awake, and especially excited to see you there.

Seeing my son's grin, I asked if he had a good sleep. Of course. I asked if he had any nice dreams, and again he answered in the affirmative. Then I made the mistake of asking what he had dreamed about.

"There were alligators, and they were all over you. And they ate you all up!" He was downright gleeful.

"Oh, my," I answered, "that doesn't sound nice at all."

"No, it's OK," he assured me. "They left your feet!"

Oh. Well, I guess that's all right then.


The second conversation took place not long afterward. My son and I were in the computer room; he was playing something on one computer, and I was using the other. "Hello Goodbye" by the Beatles was playing.

After the song ended, my son turned to me, and sounding quite puzzled, said, "So... he says yes, but he says no?"

"That's right."

"And he says goodbye, but he says hello?"

"Correct."

After a pause, "So.... who wins?"


Enough rambling. Here's a picture of a shoe and some ever-popular concrete.