Tonight – in the ultimate action of delaying bedtime – my son asked me the following questions in rapid succession:

“Where do people come from? Where do toys come from? Where do pictures come from?”

Huh?

“Mommy where do toys come from?”

”Well they come from the toy factory?”

“And where do people come from?”

”Well they come from other people.  When a man and a woman love each other very much, then if they want to, they can make a baby.”

“But first they have to get married.  And where do animals come from?”

“Well animals come from other animals.  Ownie cat's Mommy is a cat.  She was living with another family, and I adopted Ownie cat and brought her home to live with me.

"Why didn't you bring home Ownie cat's Mommy?"

"Because she already had a family who loved her, and I only had room in my house for one cat.   Her brothers and sisters went to live with other families too.  Can people make cats?”

“No!”

”And can cats make dogs?”

“No!  Only people in pet stores can make pets.  Can we get a new pet?”

“Well sweetie, right now we have Ownie cat, and when she isn’t living with us anymore, then we can get another pet, maybe two.”

“Can we get a fish?”

“Maybe”

“Can we get a lizard?”

”Maybe.”

“Can we get a snake?”

“Umm…no.”

”I don’t think I really want a snake.   Can we get a dog?”

”No.  Dogs are too high maintenance.”

“We can get a butterfly!  Then it can fly all around the house!”

(laughing) “I don’t think that would last very long.  Can we get an elephant?”

”No Mommy!  Elephants sneeze too much!”

Of course.