On Marriage and Children

Yesterday the kids made me "Thinking of you" cards while I was at work using stickers. Miranda's card had a depiction of a very stylish young lady with a green Happy face. Xavier's card had wedding imagery -- doves, wedding cake, bouquets -- and Thomas the Tank Engine stickers on the inside.

Well, the Thomas the Tank Engine stickers were no mystery -- there is nothing in the world Xavier likes more than "Thomas", but the wedding stickers had me puzzled. "Xavier, what's the deal with the Wedding stickers?" I asked.

Xavier replied, "I want to get married!"

"Really?" I asked with a smile. "Did you have anyone in mind?"

"Mommy and Daddy and Miranda!"

"Well, that's very nice, but polygamy is mostly frowned upon in this country -- usually people only marry one spouse."

"Then I'll marry Mommy!"

"Oh, sweetie, I'm flattered, but I'm already married to Daddy."

Without missing a beat, Xavier said, "I'll marry Miranda, then."

Miranda piped up, "I'm sorry, Xavier, but I'm already engaged to Jack." Evidently we're a more committed family than I knew.

Now, Miranda "proposed" to Jack -- another five-year-old at her old daycare center -- and he accepted, but he broke it off with her shortly after Christmas, so don't be surprised if you don't see wedding announcements any time soon. On the other hand, we have pointed out to her that he's kind of called it off AND that they don't even go to the same school anymore, but she only replies firmly, "It's okay -- he'll change his mind." It's hard to dispute that kind of determination.

On the children front, the kids and I took a meal to a woman from our church who was expecting a baby. While we were there, Xavier asked the woman what she was going to name the baby.

"We're going to name him James!" she replied enthusiastically.

"James is a splendid red engine!" Xavier laughed as he jumped up and down.

The woman stared at him in confusion, so I told her, "Xavier loves Thomas the Tank Engine, and James is one of the engines on that show."

She sighed. "Actually, James was our second choice. Our first choice was Thomas, but we decided not to go with that because of that show."

I guess it's a good thing I didn't tell her that James the Red Engine's claim to fame is being the "vain" engine.