It all began this way...
I came home from work today exhausted from an overly-long shift, but needing to go pick up Hubby. Special Edition, who's down for the weekend, opted to come along.
Middle also asked if she could come, because she "wanted to talk to Daddy."
I was already feeling the burn of aches in both head and right ankle and could not imagine how this wasn't going to help, but I couldn't find a legit reason to say no. So off the three of us went. It was a fairly quiet car ride until Hubby actually got in the car, at which point Middle was full of news and tidbits and stories she was bursting at the seams to share.
Among them was that there is a young boy in her class who is autistic, who did not seem to grasp during a science-class discussion on Jurassic Park that getting eaten by velociraptors was not a fun thing to have happen. Our nephew Mickey is autistic, so it was a bit of a teachable moment regarding this other student—who Middle admitted is cute-like-a-kitten but not boyfriend-cute—and how he compares to her cousin, who she knows a little better.
Middle found herself perplexed about something, though. "I don't understand why I can't watch Jurassic Park."
I was driving still and trying to keep my eyeballs both inside my head and on the road. I remember my father's perceptions of the movie from twenty-some years ago, and it wasn't age-appropriate for a ten-year-old then.
Hubby explained that it was the violence and the gore and the scare factor.
Middle remained unconvinced. "I think it's just stupid. It can't be all that scary."
There was a pause, and then she asked about tree sap turning into amber. "Isn't that how they got the velociraptors?"
Yes, Hubby confirmed, in the movie, scientists extracted dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes and other biting bugs trapped in amber, and cloned the dinosaurs from that DNA.
Middle: Didn't they do that [cloning] with sheep, too?
Hubby: Yes.
Middle: Well, how'd they do it?
I was so glad I was driving and Hubby was having to answer this one.
Hubby: Well, you've learned about cells, right? And the structures inside them?
Middle recited several cell structures for plant cells.
Hubby: There's this stuff called DNA.
Middle: D-what?
Hubby: DNA. It's in your chromosomes. It's the pattern that tells your body how to make you.
Middle: Right.
Hubby: You need both—chromosomes and DNA—to come together to make a dinosaur.
Middle: But how do they get that to get the dinosaur?
Hubby: Well, you know how babies are made, right?
Middle: No.
Hubby: Well, the women...the girls...the females have eggs.
Middle: So we're chickens?
I slapped a hand over my mouth and just kept driving, just kept driving, just kept driving...
Hubby: No. [trying desperately not to chuckle] No. These are tiny, tiny eggs.
Middle: I have eggs inside me?
Hubby: Yes, you do. And inside those eggs are your chromosomes.
Middle: Special Edition, you look uncomfortable.
Special Edition: For many reasons.
Hubby: Males also have DNA and chromosomes inside them...
SE: [sighs]
Hubby: ...and you need the chromosomes from the mom and the chromosomes from the dad...
SE: [sighs]
Hubby: ...and you mix them together in order to get a baby.
Middle: And that's what they did to get the dinosaurs?
Hubby: Yes.
Middle: But how did they mix it together? Does he throw up in her mouth or something?
Hubby hooted with laughter. Special Edition could not contain herself and howled.
I sat in the driver's seat and knew I'd missed something important because they were both laughing so hard.
Me: Okay, what did she say? Because I missed it...
SE: [still howling] She asked if he throws up in her mouth...
Middle: Well, I thought maybe it's when they're kissing...
SE: Why am I always here for these conversations?
Hubby chuckled, clearly enjoying Special Edition's discomfort. Middle jumped right on that bandwagon, too.
Middle: So, how do they mix it?
Hubby: Well, you're 10 now. I suppose you should know. You know that boys and girls are different, right?
Middle: I know they have a this and we have a that.
I kid you not; that's actually what she said.
Hubby: Did you know that this and that are designed to fit together?
Absolute silence reigned in the car for the next ten seconds, something that hadn't happened in the 28 minutes since we'd picked Hubby up.
Then...
Hubby: Maybe we should continue this conversation in the house.
Middle: Can we continue it in your room? And can Special Edition be there too? And do my sisters have to be there?
As it turned out, Special Edition needed to get a prescription filled at the pharmacy, so we went to go do that while Hubby got to continue discussing velociraptor love.
While we sat and waited, I heard from him...
Middle: Boys have a penis and girls have a Virginia?
All the parenthood win here tonight, folks.
