King of Random

Charlie consistently blows us away with his intellect and depth of thought, especially for a 6 year old.

"Daddy, do you know why I like sad songs? Because they make me feel my heart."

"Mommy, you know we're all really strangers, don't you?" What do you mean, Charlie? "Well, you don't know everyone in the world, so that means you're a stranger to someone."

Gregory, while equally smart and funny, is a bit more, how should I say, esoteric? Many of the aforementioned conversations take place in the car, where Charlie and I have thoughtful banter about many subjects; the fastness of every car on the highway and whether it could beat a Ferrari, how rain clouds are formed, what would happen if you really did try to dig to China?

Just as we're discussing the core of the earth burning us up, shovels and all, Gregory will chime in, "What would happen if all of these cars were made of green beans?"
I usually respond with a simple 'I don't know' or 'Oh, really', where appropriate. But Charlie is not that kind or tolerant, "GREGORY! We are talking, so be quiet. And, how would the cars even be able to drive if they were made of green beans? There would be no engine to make the car go! Jeez, Louise."

Sometimes it's not even that outlandish of an idea, but it's not right and I want try to help my boy figure it out without telling him he's flat out wrong.
"Mommy, did you know that llamas have horns?"
I don't know bud. I think llamas have really fuzzy ears.
"Yes, they do have horns."
Are you sure?
"Yes."
Maybe when we get home we can look at our 'Llama, Llama Red Pajama' book to see if that llama has horns.
"It does. They all do"
Okay.

And then the statement can be just so bizarre, all we can do is laugh because we have no idea what he's talking about. Charlie will be telling me about the different invasive and non native plants that he found while hiking at summer camp. Gregory will interrupt, "Hey, Charrie, wouldn't it be silly if Jason Sparkle 80 came to my camp and used my orange swim shirt as a scoochoodoochoo?" Not sure who Jason is, but I can imagine what a scoochodoochoo could be. You can see why Charlie started calling Greg, the King of Random.

I get it. The level of sophistication at which Charlie can converse, it's hard for me to keep up, let alone his 3 1/2 year old brother. The poor kid has to try to grab some air time for himself, no matter how ridiculous he may seem.

"Mommy, did you know that Pirate Booty isn't popcorn?" Really? "No, it's not." I checked the package when I got home. It really isn't popcorn, it's puffed rice and corn. Maybe not so ridiculous, but still very random.