Or, why trivia games are a good preparation for parenthood

[resonant]

Kidlet questions I've answered this week:

• What does 'treason' mean?

• That magazine says a man is pregnant. How could that happen?

• Will you buy me a hedgehog? OK, how about a ferret? A rabbit? A snake? What about a guinea pig? A dog? A really little dog? Is there any animal you're willing to live with other than a cat? Can we have another cat, then?

• If I worked in the zoo, do you think they'd let me play with the monkeys?

• Does Pantalaimon mean something, or is it just sounds?

• Can we buy a present for the dog next door? It might be her birthday.

• I can't find the Caspian Sea on this map, can you?

• Is it OK if I give communion to the cats?

Comments

[nestra.livejournal.com]

Is it OK if I give communion to the cats?

I don't know. When was the last time they went to confession?

"Bless me father, for I have sinned. I scratched a human when she was petting me, just because I felt like it. I yowled at the bedroom door at 3AM, then spent the next thirty minutes knocking things off shelves."

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

*snort* What are the chances of a cat ever actually repenting its sins?

[reginagiraffe]

That last question, in conjunction with your icon, made me laugh out loud.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I laughed myself.

[sorchasilver.livejournal.com]

That list just keeps getting better.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It's never boring.

[florahart]

*snort*

This is the cost joy of raising kids with good brains, and nourishing those brains. Your reward: the questions keep getting harder. *\o/* Wait'll you get the one about why, ethically, in a society in which we have the tools to manage or at least predict many genetic diseases in babies, given that the stated concern is inbreeding and related genetic anomalies, incestuous relations between siblings is considered Just Plain Wrong, and why, along the same line, sexual behavior shared between two same-sex siblings is.

Also, the last question there is wonderful. Yours, about communion, not mine about gay incest.

[dmarley.livejournal.com]

Suddenly, "Where was I before *you* were born, Mama?" doesn't seem so bad...

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha that last one is awesome! I don't think the cat is likely to repent, though. :-P

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

The cats think all repentance should be happening in the other direction.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

That last one just kills me. (:

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Me too!

[dmarley.livejournal.com]

It might be her birthday.

Beautiful.

If it's any consolation, Boo makes our cat play dreidl at Hannukah. This, however, is mostly a scam because it means that she's in charge of his winnings.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Now I'd think a cat would love a dreidl, though it might not play it in any normal fashion. ("Dreidl, dreidl, dreidl, I made it out of --" bat, bat, pounce, skitter, crash!)

[reedfem.livejournal.com]

Much better than the ones I've been fielding. Yikes.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Well, I do get my share of questions in the "Why do I have to go to bed?" "Can I have two more popsicles?" "My grandparents let me watch M.A.S.H. every day; why won't you?" category.

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

The last one floored me with the giggles. Of course you give *everything* (good) to cats - it's humankind's purpose ;).

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It's my belief that cats waited around for centuries for humans to evolve enough to invent the brown paper bag.

[troyswann.livejournal.com]

Is it OK if I give communion to the cats?

*dies*

Not if they're Jewish, honey. ;)

Will you buy me a hedgehog? OK, how about a ferret? A rabbit? A snake? What about a guinea pig? A dog? A really little dog? Is there any animal you're willing to live with other than a cat? Can we have another cat, then?

Wow. That is... irresistible. I assume you now have another cat ;)

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Come on, everybody knows they're Cat-holic.

[celli]

So could you find the Caspian Sea?

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Only with reference to another map.

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

The danger of answering 'yes' to the final question is of course that the kidlet might break into the sacristy, steal some hosts, and innocently say "Mummy said I could!" when caught.

Can't wait to hear your answer about the pregnant man!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

She wanted to use bread and apple juice. I told her yes to the religious ritual but no to feeding people food to cats, unless she wanted to be the one to clean up the vomit afterwards. (The ex-stray can eat anything including strips of newspaper, but the Siamese has a very delicate stomach.)

And it was only due to the discussions here on LJ that I knew enough to answer the pregnant-man question without having to actually read the supermarket tabloid. I said, "That man was born a woman and was having a sex change, but still had female internal organs," and she said, "She wanted to be a man? Gross!"

you win the internet.

[wolfdancer.livejournal.com]

this is way too good.

Re: you win the internet.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Kids provide great material. It almost makes up for the mud they track in.

[giglet.livejournal.com]

Ooh, the last one could lead to a really interesting conversation about the nature of souls and animals, the point of communion, and the etiquette of giving and getting it.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

We had a bit of that, but she anthropomorphizes the cats a lot more than I do. She believes, for instance, that Barnabas really understands that it's wrong for him to get on the table, but does it anyway, and therefore I'm wrong when I say animals have no sin.

[epistrophia.livejournal.com]

Your child actually (almost) makes me want children. If they can be programmed to be as bright as yours.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

True fact: One reason (though not the main reason) why we never had another kid was because this one was so perfectly suited to us that we couldn't see how a second one would do anything but fall short and have an awful life due to knowing he/she didn't fit in as well. (I've always suspected this was my brother's experience; my parents and I are very much alike, and he was always the odd kid out.)

And also...

[epistrophia.livejournal.com]

... how was she planning on getting the communion for the cats? "Amen - oh, and could I have another one, please?"

Re: And also...

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

She was going to use whole-wheat bread and bathroom cups full of apple juice.

[montanaharper]

Oh, man, is that list familiar. And the questions just keep getting harder and harder, too. My solution has been the internet and the library; I'll answer and discuss some questions, but others get an automatic, "Go find the answer yourself." *g*

FWIW, I spend about four solid hours a day in discussion with Offspring v2.0 about the random thoughts that wander through his brain. Keeps my own brain from atrophying.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Once when she was very small, I told her, "You have an interesting little brain, kidlet," and she said in a confidential tone, "I know. It's in my skull."

[kudra2324.livejournal.com]

so did the cats get communion?

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

The cats were denied their religious rights because one of them has a very sensitive stomach and tends to throw up for hours if she gets any human food (such as the whole-wheat bread and apple juice the kidlet planned to use for communion). I hope Amnesty International doesn't hear of this repression.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Is it OK if I give communion to the cats?

*falls over laughing*

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Future cult leader, here!

[whatifisaidno.livejournal.com]

For some reason I think the first one is the funniest :)

lol, treason.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I think it's because she's reading Terry Pratchett and there's a witch named Miss Treason.

[basingstoke.livejournal.com]

bwah! You can has a tiny genius. Tiny and very annoying genius.

I always thought the Caspian Sea looked like a waterbear, so I always zoom right to it. (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun00/mmbearp.html)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

That is the second-cutest microscopic organism I ever saw. (I still like hydras best.)

[maggiebloome.livejournal.com]

I repeat: ADORABLE.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Yet insane.

[jeddy83.livejournal.com]

Hee, your kid is fabulous!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It's strange but fascinating in there, for sure.

[myalexandria.livejournal.com]

actually, as a theologian I can weigh in on the last one. For a very complex reason which I do not fully understand (or, actually, understand at all), since the middle ages there has been consensus that if a heretic (non-Catholic) eats a consecrated host, it is SACRILEGE, because it's the actual body of Jesus. But if a mouse gets into the sacristy and eats a consecrated host, shame on you for not locking up your hosts better, but for some reason, the mouse isn't actually eating Jesus.

So, it might make the cat throw up anyway, but it wouldn't be sacrilege :)

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it has to do with the immortality of the human soul, i.e. the chance of salvation and damnation? According to the catechism, animals absolutely have souls, just not immortal ones.

/Catholic dogma

These questions are awesome, Res. & :-)

[firesprite1105.livejournal.com]

Awwww, Kidlet.

And your icon works especially well with the cat communion question.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

At least she didn't want to baptize them.