Planet Earth

AJ was watching the clouds from the kitchen window as we ate lunch yesterday, deep in thought and transfixed. Finally he spoke up, "Mommy, what is outside the clouds?" What a profound question, I had to think of a good answer or another deep question to counter that.

"Well, what do you think?" I had to buy myself more time.
"Blue" That's a good answer from AJ.
"That's right, the sky is blue. Above the earth is the atmosphere, that's the air we breathe"
AJ is still staring.
"And outside the atmosphere is space, outer space" I add more information.
"Do astronauts live in space?" AJ asks.
"Yeah, perhaps on a space ship. What's your favorite planet, AJ?"
"uh... Mars!" After giving it some thought.
"And what else?" I'm trying to quiz him because he has a book about planets and at one time, Maggie and AJ could name all of them.
"Pizza Planet!" We all laugh, this is pretty clever response too. It is from his favorite movie, Toy Story.

Brian goes on to explain to AJ that his classmate from school is an astronaut. While I don't necessarily believe that AJ would choose that profession, I think it's ok to encourage him to dream big and think about science. Though I know with his peanut allergy and mild intermittent asthma, I doubt they would ever choose him either. We're talking about exploring space, and for whatever reason Maggie feels the need to jump into the conversation.

"When I grow up, I want to be a garbage girl" Say what?
AJ counters, "When I grow up I want to drive a garbage truck!"

Alright, we'll start with cleaning up planet earth.