The Kid

The Kid

“Are you kidding me?” Dad said, looking at the pile of toys in the den.

“Well, I’m a kid so maybe... what does that mean?” asked Jay, the kid.

His father stopped short. He hadn’t realized Jay was even there due to the mess of toys all over, but still had to stop himself from laughing at the question. With a straight face he said, “Kidding doesn’t mean about a kid, it means joking, fooling somebody.”

“Whose fooling you?”

Realizing he was in over his head already, Dad said, “Nobody. What I should have said is how did you make such a huge mess in such a short time. I was only gone a couple minutes.”

“I was looking for something. The best way to find something is to move all the things that are not what you’re looking for.”

“Who told you that?”

“You did... when we were looking for the jack in the garage.”

“Oh, yeah... What is it you’re looking for?”

“The mouse.”

“The mouse?!!? Did you see a mouse in here?”

“Yeah, you know, the one Mom got for the cat.”

“Oh,” Dad said, calming down, “Why are you looking for it, the cat isn’t even in here.”

“I know. I want to trade him for the real mouse he just caught in from the yard.”

“Where is he?!?”

“He’s in the living room...” but Dad had rushed to the living room.

“Dad! He left the real mouse outside!”

Dad came back in... “and you’re finding the play mouse, why?”

“So, the cat won’t be mad at me for scaring away the real mouse.”

Dad looked at his son, nothing ever confused him more than this small new human. Lost once again, he turned to his son, said, “Good job!” and left the room.