One night, whilst mini was supposed to be going to sleep, she suddenly became the wizard of past bygones. As she mumbled on and on about her dislike for some unintelligible classmate who had annoyed her that day, she turned the tables on me. “Mama, did you ever have someone in school who annoyed you?” Unwilling to name anyone from my childhood, I casually deflected to a generalized answer about how I was sure this happened to me at least once. The resulting dialogue ensued-

Mini: Mama, I ask Papa and Daddy these questions and they tell me who it was. Like, Terry stole my lunch money and Jon/Joe/Dean was really annoying. You never tell me what happened!

Me: (again, unwilling to name someone with whom I had a poor encounter with over 20 years ago) Honey, I don’t remember the names of all the people who annoyed me a long time ago. I’ve just forgotten.

Mini: (now animated and definitely not going to sleep) How can you forget?! These are the people who annoyed you! I remember everyone who annoys me! (…so says the girl who can’t “remember” to brush her teeth every day)

To think I have a PhD and still exhibit the eternal sigh of weariness. She exhausts me.

———————–

I ask you –

Does your child(ren) ask questions like this?

Can you name specific individuals from your childhood who annoyed you?

Someone once argued with me about women being wizards. The person said only men could be wizards. Is this true? Why?

(The post Questionable Encounters first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

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