by Lisa Morgan

Created on: April 24, 2009   Last Updated: April 25, 2009

When listening to a child talk about how the world works can give you an interesting view of your life as seen by their guileless eyes. The insights and perceptions of how or why things are, is often oddly skewed, as if they are peeping into the adult world through carnival mirrors.

I had a very good friend named Jim who often came to visit us when my children were young. He spent time with the children, participating in family activities, and became part of the family. As part of our family routine, once a week Jim would come to visit, he would spend time listening to the children's stories and exploits and then after the children had been feed and bathed and settled in for the night, we would leave the children in the care of a babysitter and enjoy an evening of uninterrupted conversation. It was an enjoyable routine that all of us appreciated, and for me, after a week of mommy duty is was a welcome reprieve to talk about movies that didn't involve a cartoon character, books without brightly colored pictures, or artwork that didn't come from my children. On occasion if the children were especially good or to celebrate some big moment or triumph in one of the children's lives, we would sometimes take all the children with us for dinner as a special treat.

One day while I was at work, I received a phone call from Na, our babysitter that gave me a sudden insight into my children's world. When she was able to stop laughing long enough to make full sentences, this was the story she relayed to me. My oldest daughter, then 8, was in the car with Na as they were on their way home from the park for lunch. As they stopped at an intersection waiting for the light to turn green, my daughter noticed that they were sitting in front of her favorite restaurant in the entire world, the Chinese buffet. From the backseat she piped up excitedly and said, "Can we eat there today?" The babysitter turned to see where she was pointing and said, "No honey, not today." My daughter responded, "Why not?" "Well," said Na, "I just don't have enough money right now to take everyone out to lunch today." Thinking this was the end of it, she continued to drive home now that the light had turned green.

My daughter was quiet for a block or two and then said, "Na, you need a Jim just like my Mommy has!" she was started speechless for a moment but quickly regained her composure and said, "What do you mean honey?" Then with great authority on the subject my daughter informs her, "Well, my Mommy has a Jim and he takes her out for dinner and plays with us and sometimes he even takes us out for dinner when we're good, and I've been very good today. And Jim's always have money to do fun things. You don't have any money, so you need a Jim too." Laughing, Na said, "Honey, not everybody has a Jim like your Mommy does." My daughter was quiet until they had almost reached the baby-sitter's house, and then with the solemn earnestness of a mage imparting great wisdom my daughter replies, "Na, everybody should have a Jim!"

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