A Pilgrim’s Digression

Yesterday’s post was pretty heavy, so to lighten up the mood a bit, here is a “kid’s say the darndest things” anecdote.

Awhile back, we were going somewhere in the car–which seems to always be where these kinds of conversations occur, I don’t know why–and out of the nowhere, Brendan
said, “Tabetha and I are getting married.”

Tabetha is a girl he has been playing with on the playground at school.

“Oh really,” Lynn said. “When are you getting married?”

“When we’re like fifteen or sixteen,” he answered promptly.

“It’s good that at least you’re waiting,” Lynn said.

“Yeah,” he said, “but Mom, I need a baby doll so I can practice.”

“Practice what?”

“Practice being a father.”

Silence for a bit, then Brendan said, “Tabby already has a doll she can use. It’s a real baby that you feed water and it pees and cries. But I need one of my own.”

More silence. Lynn and I both were at a bit of a loss for how to respond. I was just amused, not saying anything at this point.

Brendan kept things going, however.

“Oh, and Mom, you’re going to be the flower girl.”

“Oh, you’ve already decided on your wedding party?” Lynn said.

“Yeah. Josh is going to be the best man.”

I looked at Lynn and whispered, “I had no clue he even knew about best men and flower girls.”

“Maybe Tabby taught him about that,” Lynn said.

To Brendan I said, “What about me? Do I have a place in your wedding?”

“You can be the preacher, Dad,” Brendan said, not missing a beat.

Needless to say, Lynn and I couldn’t contain ourselves anymore after that. We both started laughing. Brendan was very serious about it, though. This is the girl he’s going to marry, and since I’m the minister, I guess that makes him the sweet-talking son of a preacher man.