Charming Dinner Conversation

Justin stopped after work tonight to get a haircut, getting himself home right at the end of dinner.

He and I got to talking about the girl who cuts his hair, and I asked whether or not she was married. Isn't this the most pressing question we all want to know about the young, stylish girl that plays with our husband's hair? From there, Mia involved herself in the conversation as well.

"Are YOU married, mama?" she asked.

"Yep," I answered, "I'm married to your daddy. You knew that, right?"

"Well, are you gonna get married again?" I think Mia has the idea that weddings involve princesses. This would be the ultimate cool thing - seeing her mom as a princess? Awesome.

However, we only have pictures to go on, and that will have to be enough.

"Nope," I continued, "I only get to get married once. Your dad is my husband forever."

She thought about this for awhile before asking, "When I was in your belly, were you already married?"

Wondering about her thought processes, I smiled while answering yes.

The conversation just kept getting more and more interesting. With her eyes glazed over, imagining her pre-born history, she said, "Did I see anything when I was in your belly?"

"No, not really sweetie, it was probably pretty dark in there."

"Did I cry?" she asked with a slight grin. For some (hopefully short lived) reason, Mia is fascinated with sadness, crying, or pain.

"I don't think so," I explained, "you were probably pretty comfortable all snuggled up in my belly."

"But where did I lay my head?"

"Well, you laid it all over the place. You were always squirming around and moving into different places. But then towards the end, your head was stuck right up here under my ribs." I patted my upper-left abdomen and remembered the moment the Doctor told me she was breech and I'd need a c-section. How disappointed I was that I wouldn't get to have the natural birth I'd planned. I started to feel nostalgic, remembering the days and moments leading up to Mia's birth.

Then she shattered my thoughtful moment with her next statement:

"And then I RIPPED out through your pants and got outta there! I got born, right?"

I've never discussed the miracle of life with her before, so to say I was surprised is an understatement. Did she just logically guess about how a baby gets out of a tummy? Had she heard someone else talking about it?

Either way, my surprise was trumped by my laughter. The mental image of a baby ripping out through the seat of my pants is now embedded in my mind's eye.

And that may be enough to snap even the sappiest of saps right out of their nostalgic memories.