Fine line between fantasy and reality

I am completely fascinated with the way that children, as they grow and learn, absorb information from everyone and everything around them. Input floods in and they make their own individual often sensational connections and conclusions, building up their own picture of how this world works. I have been teaching myself not to just tell them the answers to stuff, but ask them my favourite question - How do you think it works? (Thanks to Play Centre, where I learned this cool albeit simple idea). However sometimes it gets...tricky.

Little brother decided he was a bit scared of eating blackberries, after an unfortunate tummy bug hit him right after eating a lot of them. (I'll spare you the details of what the car looked like). I tried to explain that it wasn't the berries that had made him sick, it was a tummy bug, and his tummy got rid of the bug by getting rid of everything in it, and that's why he was sick. After a few moments thought, he said 'Yeah, I think it was a slug. It went down here (gesturing nose) and into my tummy and made me sick.'
'Well, No - 'I tried to explain-' I don't think it was a slug, but a tiny bug so small you can't see it, you need a microscope to see it. Those sorts of tiny bugs can make you sick.'
But he wasn't convinced. A few minutes later he said -
'Mum, I think the slug went into my brain and made a nest'.
Oh, dear.

Big Brother we have noticed oftens blurs the line between fantasy and reality. He composed a beautiful and moving prayer the other morning at school - all about his Dad who had been caught in the Tsunami in Japan, and was in hospital in Japan. I expect in a prayer session where's there's a little bit of one-up-man-ship involved, it was really impressive.
'Is he ok? his teacher asked.
'NO, he's in hospital, in Japan!' he re-iterated.
His teacher gave him the benefit of the doubt and the class all prayed. Hopefully those prayers were helpful for someone actually in that tragic situation. And she then checked with me.
That night we had a chat about the importance of telling the actual truth (particularly when dealing with prayers and the all-knowing entity), and the difference between a story and a fact.
Oh dear.

Social Secretary

As the boys get older there is less demand for such motherly chores as bottom wiping and food mulching and more demand for me in a social secretary kind of way. I seem to spend a crazy amount of time planning and executing their social lives.
Take or example the other weekend where Little Brother had been invited to THREE birthday parties. I'm not being ungrateful, they love parties and you know, it's nice he gets invited to such things....but it did involve a fair amount of running around. Actually No.1 Dad did the running around, as I was uncharacteristically busy with my own socialising and a first aid course. So, off they went. By the second party Little Brother must have been feeling a bit weary half way through as he was found asleep on the stairs! He was popped into bed, then woken for the cake. When I asked him later, if he'd got a bit tired, he denied all knowledge of the event. 'I thought about having a sleep, but then I decided to just keep playing'.
Then they have both become big fans of the play date. Can I go to someones house? Can he come and play at our house? Its never ending, and while it's nice to know they are sociable and have friends, it will be a relief when they have their own phones, cars and organise themselves. Although I guess that will bring with it a whole new set of worries - I'll be relegated from social secretary to Facebook stalker.

Morning Wake Up Call

Mum! He's got a piece of lego stuck up his nose!
was the call I woke up to the other morning. It certainly got my attention as I leapt out of bed and rounded the corner to find the yeller - Big Brother - looking very excited and the lego inhaler - little Brother - looking very sheepish. And sneezy.
Obviously the lego was irritating his inner linings cause it kept making him sneeze - but not hard enough to dislodge the block.
What ? How? Why? - these questions left my mouth unfinished and unanswered...who knows why a 3 year old does these things? Certainly not the 3 year old, and they cannot be expected to understand the adult logic of why we do not stick lego up our noses.
Big Brother kindly tried to explain ' He had it sitting in his hand and he sniffed it up! By accident!'
Little Brother was remarkably calm, despite the sneezing and the drama, and tried to get it out by poking a finger up the nostril in question a few times. Which helpfully pushed the lego piece even further in.
So, with Dad holding Little Brother (down), I found my tweezers and managed to encourage the small circular brown snotty lego brick out of the small pink quivering nostril. Little Brother was very brave even with his Brother jumping about behind me yelling ' This is so GROSS! ' and ' I can't believe it! I can't watch! THis is SO gross!'
After all the drama was over we had a small discussion about how we never put toys or things (that aren't for food or medical purposes, I nearly added, then just left it at 'things') into the various holes in our bodies. Lesson learnt, I hope.