Funny kid stories...

Ok so we have 2 World Vision kids (well one is World Vision and one is another one like it). They are a boy and a girl from Ethiopia. Their pictures are on our fridge and Mercedes, Shaun, and I have had many little conversations about who they are, that we have been blessed so we need to give and help people. That one child is an orphan from the AIDs epidemic, and we send them money so they can get an education, food, medicine, etc. Anyway, I was watching Oprah one afternoon ( I know roll your eyes if you have too :)) and Dwana Smallwood was dancing (apparently she is considered one of the best modern dancers in the world). she had no shoes on as she doing a dance called "cry". It is a slave's journey to freedom.She is an African-American...that is her in the picture. So it was upon this setting that Mercedes starts in on her list. "Mommy we need to send her money...She needs medicine Mommy, and food. Does she have a mommy and a daddy? Or did they get sick and die?" On and on she went. I sat there feeling that I was obviously lacking in my explanation skills. Here my little daughter sees a very wealthy lady on TV and because she has a certain skin colour and is not wearing shoes she MUST need our help. I had to explain that it does not depend upon a person's skin colour but more where they live. And that she wasn't wearing shoes so that she could do her dance properly. This lady was OK but that I appreciated her heart of compassion.

Next story...Mercedes has a friend named Caedence. He is a cutie pie of a boy. They love playing together. Caedence...well he's just one of those kids that you just love having around. He got Mercedes a Dora camping chair for her birthday and this is the story behind that. He and his mom went shopping for Mercedes' present. LaLainia let Caedence pick (smart mommy). So he looked and looked and finally he found a princess dress that he just loved for Mercedes and then he found hair pretties. THEN he saw this Dora chair and he HAD to get that. LaLainia explained that he could get either the princess dress or the chair. He decided on the Dora chair because "I have the Diego chair mommy and so I can be the prince and if Mercedes has this chair she can be the princess. SOOOOOOOO CUTE! OK so...He was over playing one day. They were downstairs in the yard jumping on the trampoline and riding bikes and generally having a blast! Caedence comes stomping up the stairs and says to Shaun and I "Mercedes was bad to me". So Shaun called Mercedes upstairs and said to them "OK Caedence I want to hear your side of the story and Mercedes please do not speak while he is talking and then Mercedes it will be your turn. So Caedence what is your story?" Caedence says this "Once upon a time there was a boy named Diego...the end." Mercedes at this point chimed in "yeah and there was a girl named Dora" I was really trying not to break into hysterical laughter as he was quite serious about it all. Then Shaun (who didn't miss a beat by the way) turned, straight-faced, and said "and do you think they were nice to each other?" To which they both replied "yes". Shaun said "OK then do you think you 2 can be nice to each other" "Yes" and they ran out quite in harmony with each other. About 1/2 hour later Caedence came in and said the same thing "Mercedes is being bad to me". Mercedes was with him this time. So Shaun again asked "Caedence tell me your story". HUGE sigh...he threw himself into the Dora chair and said VERY dramatically "Once upon a time..." I realize that he did not understand what Shaun was asking him...but it was so funny and it really distracted him. I love kids. They are so fun.

Hope you had a good laugh