A Fish Story

The Manimal is smart. Yes, I know every parent thinks their child is a genius, but in this case, most people who've met him agree on two points.

1. He's too smart for his own good.
2. Diva Husband and I are in BIG trouble.

Last week The Manimal and I watched "Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie" on Hulu.

He was fascinated. Asked all kinds of questions.

"Why did Jonah go wif da pirates?"
"Why do dose pirates not do anyfing?"
"Why is Jonah in dat fish?"
"Why did God put Jonah in dat fish?"
"Why is Jonah angry wif God?"
"Why are dose people frowing fish?"

Pretty basic theological questions if you know the story of Jonah and the Whale, with a bit of Veggie Tales twist thrown in there for good measure.

He watched the whole thing, really taking my answers to heart.

I had no idea HOW much to heart until I overheard comment he made during a sandbox conversation the other day between he and The Tweenager.

"You better be nice to me or God's gonna send a whale to swallow you!"

I nearly choked and almost missed his next musing, which fortunately went unanswered by The Tweenager.

"How does God send dat whale down here?"

I was torn between rolling my eyes at his childlike application of the lesson and wanting to cry at his advanced application of a concept to a completely unrelated issue.

We are afraid. We are very, very afraid.