Pelicans

A few days ago, my 4-year-old suddenly started having a lot to say about pelicans. Since he had not heard anything about them from me, I assumed he must have learned about pelicans at preschool or perhaps overheard a conversation between his siblings or a program on television. As I was on one occasion trying to sort out his most recent declarations about pelicans, my daughter (who has a knack for understanding her little brother's speech patterns and to whom I therefore frequently turn for translating help) laughingly informed me, "Mom, he's talking about Republicans!"

Do you think maybe our household has become a bit too political? This is not the first time my youngest has had something to say about political parties.

Anyway, good parent that I am, I have been trying to set him straight: "Honey, pelicans are animals. We're Republicans. Repeat after me: Re-pub-li-can."

I'm not sure it's sinking in. Last night I asked him, "Sweetie, what are pelicans?" His answer: "Pelicans are the good guys."

Maybe I should leave this alone. After all, he may have something there! Perhaps I should even start a grassroots movement, not unlike this one spearheaded by my friend Elephant's Child, to change the Republican mascot from the elephant to the pelican!

On the other hand, I think that this . . .


. . . probably stands a better chance of beating this in the fall . . .

. . . than this.

So maybe it's time to give politics a rest and instead spend some time introducing my little boy to the wonders of the animal kingdom. At the moment, that kingdom is making a lot more sense to me anyway.

(Photos courtesy of Wikipedia.)