Last night Little Bit was wearing her sateen red Christmas
nightgown and wanted to sing Christmas songs.
Pressing November, I’m ready for Christmas songs – not decorations – but
music, yes! So, of course, Haydn and I
obliged and sang and sang. She suggested
“the reindeer one.” We sang it twice
with intermittent discussions about the words and all of the reindeer's
names. Little Bit said, “That is a
really sad song.” Long pause. “Those other reindeer were mean. They wouldn't let him play with them. That is not nice. I don’t like that.” Thus a discussion ensued about the story. Then, this from the 4-year-old’s analytical
mind:
Little Bit: “Now, what do
reindeer look like?”
Dad: “Sort of like
our deer but bigger and with big antlers on their heads”
Little Bit: “Where do
they live?”
Me: “Way up
North. We’re in the South . . . so not
around here”
LB: “Do they have
wings?”
Dad: “No.”
LB: “Then how can
they really fly? Birds have to have
wings to fly. How can they pull a
sleigh?”
Us: “Ok. You’re right.
Real reindeer can't fly. But you can’t tell your friends this stuff.”
