"I saw a bird!"

It's tough to get A.J. to talk about his day at school. I thought this might be a trait that doesn't start in kids until high school, but at the ripe old age of three it's like digging ditches to get him to give you the slightest insight or details about what he did. That's why I was thrilled with this unprompted conversation we had in the car on the way to the store today. I've tried to transcribe it verbatim.

AJ: Daddy, I saw a bird today at school.

He has been really into seeing birds around the house lately, so this didn't surprise me. My goal at this point was to treat him like a guilty criminal suspect and just keep him talking as long as possible to see what else I could find out.

Me: Really? Where did you see it?

AJ: Outside.

Okay, not a lot to go on yet. Time to dig a little deeper.

Me: What was he doing? Was he flying?

AJ: No.

Me: Was he driving a car? Was he playing basketball?

AJ: No, daddy. That would be silly.

It has taken him just this long to figure out that his dad is a silly goofball.

Me: So what was he doing?

AJ: Nothing. He was dead. Really, really dead. Miss Paige scooped him up and put him in a bag and said not to touch him because it would make me sick.

Despite the morbid ending, this qualifies as a wonderful post-school discussion.