~Metal Conversations~

While walking to the car after camp today...

Eamon:  "Mommy, how do you make metal?"

Me:  "Ummm, for what...??"

Eamon:  "You know, metal for my dragon tank that I'm going to make when I'm grown up."

Me:  "Right, the dragon tank.  Well, to make metal from scratch, you'd need to mine metal ore from the earth and then..."

Eamon:  "What's ore?"

Me:  "It's the bits of raw metal that's in the ground.  So you'd have to mine in and then heat it up super hot and mold it into the shapes you want."

Eamon:  "How do you pick it up when it's really hot?  Do you use oven mitts?"

Me:  "Well, not exactly..."

Eamon:  "Really big oven mitts?"

Me:  "Uh, sure, close enough..."

Eamon:  "But I still don't understand how I'm going to make metal for my dragon tank."

Me:  <struck with a sudden idea>  "Ok, remember that episode of Avatar, the Last Airbender when Sokka makes a sword from that meteor?  And they heat up the metal and mold it into the shape of a sword and beat it w/ hammers?  That's how you do it!" 

Thank goodness for Nickelodeon... ;)

~Bonding Conversations~

The father-son bond between Mark and Eamon grows stronger - and odder - every day.  So while we were getting ready to read Eamon stories before bed, this exchange took place...

Eamon:  <makes rude noise>

Me:  "Eamon, geez!  You're starting to sound like your dad."

Eamon:  <giggles and grins mischieviously>

30 seconds later after Mark walks in...

Mark:  <makes rude noise>

Me:  "Mark!"

Eamon:  <very seriously> "It wasn't him, mommy. It was one of my stuffed animals."

Mark:  "Um, yeah... I thought so but I was going to take the blame because I didn't want your stuffed animal to feel embarrassed.  But thanks for setting the record straight, son!"

Eamon smiles angelically and they do a father-son fist bump while I shake my head at the absurdity of it all...

~Wishful Conversations~

While walking to the park today, Eamon insisted on bringing his life-sized Nerf battle-axe...

Mark:  "Eamon, hurry up!  Why do you keep falling behind?  You need to walk with your mom and I."

Eamon:  "I'm chopping down the flowers that we pass by, but just the white ones."

Me:  "The dandelions?"

Eamon:  <ominously> "Yeah, so no one can make wishes on them."

Me:  <sigh>  "My son the wish-slayer..."

~Yogi Conversations~

While playing with my 5 lb weights...

Eamon:  "I like working out with weights."

Me:  "You do, huh?"

Eamon:  "Yeah, and you can do yoga stuff with them."  <balances his body above the floor on his hands, which are on the weights>

Me:  "Really?  Did you learn that yoga move from Aunt Erica?"

Eamon:  "No, I just know it."

Me:  "But where did you learn it?"

Eamon:  "I made it up."


My kid the yoga genius...? ;)

~Mouthwashing Conversations~

While doing the bedtime routine tonight...

Eamon:  "Mommy, can you help me with the [kids'] mouthwash?"

Me:  "Sure. <walks into the bathroom and notices somthing odd>  "Hey, we've had this mouthwash for over a week but it's so full that it's about to spill out the top... almost like someone has been topping it off with something?"

Eamon: .....

Me:  "Eamon, have you been filling the mouthwash bottle with water every night?"

Eamon:  "Well, yeah, so we wouldn't run out." 

Geez, why didn't I think of that!? ;)

~Father-Son Conversations~

While driving home from the lake, I noticed in my rear-view mirror, a furiously waving hand...

Me:  "Uh, yes, Eamon, did you want to say something?"

Eamon:  "I still haven't picked what kind of car I want."
Me:  "Uhh, what?"

Eamon:  "I need to figure out what kind of car I want."

Me:  "For when you get older?"

Eamon:  "Yeah. I just saw car places called Nissan and Infinity and I already know about Hondas, Toyotas, and Fords.  Which do you think I should get?"

Mark:  "A gas-guzzling monstrosity!"

Eamon:  "Daddy, it has to be good for the environment."

Mark:  <sigh>  "Ok, how about a... TANK!?"

Eamon:  "YESSSSS!!!"

<Pause for father-son fist bump while I shake my head>

Mark:  <laughing>  "Because a tank is so eco-friendly..."

Eamon:  "Mine will be.  I'm going to use my tank to blow up bad factories!"

Mark:  "Awesome!"

Eamon:  "But I'm going to send the factories a note first.  I'll give them a chance to stop doing bad stuff and if they don't, I'm going to blow them up!" 

Mark:  "But blowing the factories up could pollute as bad as the factories do."

Eamon:  <thinking>  "Ok, I'm going to make a dragon tank and it's going to have drills and if they don't stop polluting, the note will say my tank is going to drill them into the ground!"

Mark:  "Cool!"

And then the conversation turned, naturally, to the Batmobile, which Mark said he'd like for Eamon to make for him...

Eamon:  "Are you sure you wouldn't rather have real Kryptonite, Daddy?"

Mark:  <scoffing>  "Nope, just the Batmobile."

Eamon:  "Ok, I'll make you the Batmobile and I'll throw in the Kryptonite for free.  You have to pay for the Batmobile but since I'm your son, you won't have to pay a lot. You can pay me a $1." 

Mark:  "Plus expenses, right?"

Eamon:  "No, I'm going to build it myself so I won't have to buy anything so you just pay me a dollar.  But since I'm giving you the Kryptonite for free, you need to give me something for free, Daddy."

Mark:  "Of course.  You can be Robin to my Batman and ride around in the Batmobile with me."

Eamon:  "No, I mean something good."

Mark:  "What's better than being my sidekick?"

Eamon:  "The Pharoah's Quest Lego set."

Mark:  "Ok, you build me the Batmobile and give me Kryptonite and I will be buy you Pharoah's Quest."

Eamon:  "YESSSS!  Now we just need to find a $1,000 bill..." 


In case you don't remember, Eamon is obsessed with 1) building cars and selling them to people for a dollar and 2) finding a $1,000 bill which he plans to buy the Lego Pharoah's Quest with since he doesn't believe us when we say it's $100... ;)

~Computer Conversations~

While discussing how many books we have left to read for the library's summer reading program...

Eamon:  "I only have 7 more circles to fill in and then I can turn my paper in for a prize!"

Me:  "Cool. We can go next Saturday to turn our forms in."

Eamon:  "Saturday? But that's when Prankster Planet Level 3 comes out!"

Me:  "What?"

Eamon:  "Prankster Planet - that game on the computer - puts out a new level each Saturday and next week is Level 3."

Me:  "Wait a minute.  Are you telling me you're planning to spend all of next Saturday playing a game on the computer?"

Eamon:  "Well, just until I beat Level 3."

The fact that he was planing to spend all of next Saturday in front of the computer, to the exclusion of all other activities, is especially funny to me b/c we have rules about how long he gets to spend on the computer and when.  A boy can dream though, I guess.  ;)