Favorite Color

A couple months ago, our three-year-old was playing with our housemate, Karen. Michael unexepectedly jumped from a low wall he had been climbing, and she was unable to catch him. Instead, he landed on her foot and simultanously knocked her down. My guess is that falling on her foot is what fractured the bone, and knocking her over is what tore three ligaments. 

It swelled to enormous size the next day, and turned purple. She was babysitting Mike, so she just took him along to see the doctor.

While they waited, he inspected her foot. "Hey, Kawen, it's puwpwe!" 

"Yes, it is purple," she answered.

"Hey--puwpwe is youw favowite cowow!" (Yes, he really talks like Tweety Bird.)

"Yes, purple is my favorite color." (Karen's very good at translating.)

"Kawen, if youws favowite cowow was owange, would youws foot be owange?"

"No, my foot wouldn't be orange, even if that was my favorite color."

"If youws favowite cowow was bwue, would youws foot be bwue?"

After about five colors, she couldn't see the end of the rainbow in sight, so she had to explain that no, it doesn't work that way.

As a parent, I think back on the whole incident grateful that at least my boy knows his colors.