Dinner Time Randomness

Have you ever seen the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

During one of the opening scenes, three of the grandparents are all laying in their shared bed reminiscing about the old days of working at Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. The fourth grandmother, who had just been quietly laying in bed, suddenly chimes in with her two cents of, "I love grapes!"

There's sort of an awkward pause. Because no one was talking about grapes or fruit in general. But then the other grandparents smile, and move on with their conversation.

That grandma, and her random love of grapes, reminds me of my four year old son Max.

Now, please don't misunderstand me. Max is a very much loved and adored member of our family, and we are beyond crazy about him.

It's just that...he does have a tendency to say some of the most random things. And most of the time, those random things he chimes in with have to do with either a. dinosaurs, or b. monster trucks. Occasionally he will mention something about trains or construction vehicles, but the vast majority of the time it's about dinosaurs and monster trucks.

Take, for example, the other night at dinner.

The kids were all talking quite loudly about some different ideas they had.

Amid all the conversation about if you really could build a bridge from our little town in the midwest to Paris, Max was just sitting quietly, taking it all in, and eating his taco.

At some point there was a pause in the conversation, and Max suddenly exclaims,"When I grow up I'm going to live in Mount ___(insert name of town that his Meemaw and Papa live in.)

Intrigued, I asked him why he wanted to live there.

"Oh because of the dinosaur that lives there."

Cue confused looks between my husband and myself, and finally one of us said,"Buddy, the dinosaur doesn't live in Memaw and Papa's town. The dinosaur lives at the Science center."

All of the kids were back to talking all at once again. And Max went back to eating his food, deep in thought.

Finally, just as the kids were discussing what game they wanted to play before bed time, Max spoke up again.

"When I grow up, I'm going to work at the Science Center! I'm going to take care of the dinosaurs there. I'm going to feed the big T- Rex, and I'm going to help the triceratops feel better. And then I'm going to take them home, and let them sleep with me, and... I'll be like their dad!"

After this proclamation, there was a brief period of silence. Then Jack exclaimed as he was getting down from the table,"I think that's a great idea, Max! You'll take great care of those dinosaurs!"

Max's eyes lit up from the praise of his older brother. Then he looked at me very seriously and said,"Mama, can I please ask you something?" Which is how Max almost always begins his sentences.

"Of course, buddy,"I say, assuming he's going to tell me more about the dinosaurs he's apparently going to be a father to.

"For my birthday...can I please have a remote control monster truck? And then can we take it to Aldi and have my party there?"

Again, Erik and I exchanged a look, and then I finally said,"Well...I guess we'll have to just wait and see, buddy, but that does sound fun!"

And with that, Max got down from the table so he and Luke could go back to their game of playing dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs, monster trucks, and Aldi.

If nothing else, at least he's an easy boy to please.