I Want Details

Carson’s favorite phrase lately has been “What’s That?” For a while he’d settle for a simple answer. He’d point to a salt shaker and I’d say, “That’s a salt shaker. You shake it and salt comes out of those little holes.” But now he insists on additional information like the exact number of grains of salt that are in it and how the shaker was manufactured. He’ll keep asking until he’s satisfied with my answer.

The other day he looked out the front window and saw a man riding down the street on a unicycle (which is surprisingly an ordinary occurrence in our neighborhood). Here’s our conversation verbatim:

Carson: Wha’ZAT? (that’s exactly how he says it)

Me: That’s a man riding a unicycle. It’s like a bicycle but with only one wheel.

Carson: Sigh. Wha’ZAT?

I look out the window at the man again.

Me: That’s a man riding a unicycle wearing a striped orange stocking hat.

Not good enough, he senses there’s more to this scenerio.

Carson: pointing and tapping on the glass Wha’ZAT?

Me: That’s a man riding a unicycle wearing a striped orange stocking hat while talking on his cell phone. He’s ordering a pizza.

Carson: Wha’ZAT?

Me: A sundried tomato and artichoke heart pizza with no cheese. Because his wife is lactose intolerant.

Then he nodded in approval and went to play with trains.