There was a mess made by one of my children this morning...
One task used two chopping boards, two different kitchen benches leaving a trail of zucchini “from here to Timbuktu”! Cue the obvious question regarding my geographic knowledge, “where’s Timbuktu?”
We looked it up on the map software and found it in Mali, Africa.
Cue the next obvious question, “can we go there?”
I replied “we’ll do some research”.
“Would we go in a plane?”
“Yes, we’d go in a plane, definitely not a boat.” Sometimes I really set myself up, especially before 7am and on stomach that hasn’t seen its first COFFEE!
“Why won’t we go on a boat?”
“Mainly because Mali is surrounded by land and not by sea, but also between here and there the seas are renown for pirates”.
“What do pirates do?”
I explained about guns and robbery at sea.
He raised his voice excitedly, “I have a sword!” <that sword I made out of cardboard, icy-pole sticks and gaffa tape for a fancy dress party he attended.
More discussion on guns and killing and why some people become pirates ensued. Why hadn’t I simply said “Mummy gets sea sick?”
“Are there pirates on planes?”
SERIOUSLY??? <send coffee!>
“No - well maybe but they can’t bring their weapons on to the plane.”
“Why not?”
There’s no going back now, I set myself up good and proper.
“All the airports have a lot of security practices that stop people getting on planes with anything that hurts people. Remember that thing we walk through when we get on a plane? Where sometimes mummy has to take her shoes off to walk through?”
Without skipping a beat his reply was “Why don’t pirates like taking their shoes off?”