Intro to Nathan-isms

Daniel and Nathan are very different. Everyone knows this of course. Daniel has always been concerned with doing things correctly, which includes knowing the proper words for things. Nathan on the other hand, is not so much concerned with correctness as he is in just doing something. Where language is concerned, this means that he doesn't care a lick about using the correct word, he just wants people to know what he is talking about. Hence his coining of the phrase "reindeer sticks."


Back in December, several weeks before Christmas, I was driving Nathan to preschool and he was hitting me with a barrage of questions (which is totally normal for him). The conversation went something like this:

Nathan: "Why can't we see Santa when he comes to our house?"
Me: "Because he knows when we are sleeping."
Nathan: "How does Santa know when we are sleeping?"
Me: "Because he's magic."
Nathan: "Why can't we hear Santa's reindeer on the rooftops?"
Me: "Because he knows when we are sleeping and won't come if we are awake."
Nathan: "Why can't we see Santa's sleigh?"
Me: "Because he knows when we are sleeping and won't come if we are awake."
Nathan: "Why does Santa have a big belly like a bowl full of jelly?"
Me: "Probably because of all the cookies he eats."

(Silence for about five minutes. It is peaceful.)

Nathan: "Why can't we hear Santa's ho's?"

(Silence again because in my head I heard 'hose' and for the life of me couldn't figure out what Santa had to do with gardening. Then the synapses fired and I started to laugh. Of course, I was trying not to laugh because I didn't want to give Nathan a complex.)

Me: (gasp, choke, giggle) "I don't know." (chortle, snort, chuckle)


Sometimes I think that my four year old, with his infinite curiosity, has a better grasp on reality than I do.