Raising Little Ladies

Hannah and I were enjoying our afternoon story time, cuddled up in a cozy chair together. Among the stack of books Hannah chose that day was one of my favorites: Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey. Sal and her mother are picking blueberries on one side of Blueberry Hill, and Little Bear and his mother bear are eating berries on the other side of blueberry hill. Eventually, the little ones and their mothers get mixed up! When Sal's mother notices somebody taking a great big mouthful of berries from her pail, and realizes it's not her Little Sal, it reads:

"Little Sal's mother turned around and gasped, 'My goodness, you are not Little Sal! Where, oh where, is my little child?' "

Hannah began to quietly giggle as I read on. It is a very clever book, and when you have heard the story before and know that everything is alright in the end, it can be pretty comical. But Hannah's laughter continued, and it made me curious.

I stopped reading to ask her what was so funny.

Pointing to the picture, Hannah answered, "She gassed!"

Can you imagine it the way Hannah thought I was telling the story? Little Sal's mom was so surprised that when she turned around and saw little Bear, she gassed!

I don't know about other households, but in my own experience raising five daughters, the humor of bodily functions is not lost on sweet little girls.