can we all just agree that sometimes it is difficult to keep a straight face around kids?

this is what happened tonight. i was babysitting, and kid #1 exclaimed (as he often does) "HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOES...YAY!*"

we had been eating dinner, and he was having a tough time with the idea of gnocchi, because i had been foolish enough to tell him that it had potatoes in it before he started eating it. he looked at me like i'd just announced that it was made out of the bones of the easter bunny and santa's head, and cried, "BUT I DON'T LIKE POTATOES!!!"

then his mom jumped in to say, "but you like those kind of potatoes! you don't like plain potatoes [sidenote: wtf?] but you like potatoes in gnocchi!" and he was down with the potatoes but then upset about the tiny bits of green stuff (parsley? something? i dunno, it didn't taste like anything) and then finally chilled out and decided that maybe he could in fact eat the pasta.

so anyway, he was possibly coming around to the idea of more than pineapple, blackberries, and orange juice for dinner when the hippoes thought occurred to him, so i asked, "are you a hungry hungry hippo?" all the while squelching my urge to tell him about how much i liked hungry hungry hippoes when i was growing up (although i may or may not be old, i try not to talk like it to little kids, because no kid wants to hear it.) he agreed with a big grin that he was indeed a hungry hungry hippo, so i encouraged the hungry hungry hippo to turn his attention to his tasty tasty pasta. then i got up to refill the orange juice cup of kid #2.

while i was standing at the counter, kid #1 snuck away from the table (okay, i totally knew he was there. i have eyes in the back of my head, and someday i'll work my way up to total momniscience) and came up behind me...and then quickly and carefully bit the back pocket of my jeans. i know he thought this was hilarious (and honestly, so did i) but we had to have a Serious Talk about how it is Not Okay to bite people, even if you are joking, because biting is not a funny joke. i opened my eyes really wide to indicate the depth of my seriousness. but on the inside, i couldn't really believe what had just happened. four year olds are stars of physical comedy, and he had really taken care to make sure that he was only biting the pocket; i didn't experience any physical discomfort (although i was a little weirded out.)

anyway, that is my kid story for the day. the end.

*i have no idea. kids say bizarre things. i know i did, and brother bear? whew! you could have filled a book. [p.s. brother bear: dead bug connected!]