Tomatoes or Potatoes

Friday morning Nick preached at Concordia Ann Arbor, and we all went along. So, we were all up and eating breakfast and then I wanted to clean out the leftovers from the fridge (a job I dread) before the garbage man came that morning. While cleaning out the fridge I saw the roast I had taken out of the freezer the day before so we could have it for dinner that night. I was SO GLAD I had seen it. I sometimes forget that I was planning on making a crock pot meal until it's too late! So, I got out the roast, potatoes, carrots and soups to top it. I started washing the veggies and before long I had a helpful observer.

Murray likes to watch me while I work in the kitchen. Most of the time I don't mind unless it's him following me around so I can't take a step without walking on him. I was stationary and he was on a stool next to me...this is my favorite kind of help. We started talking about what I was doing. Washing the vegetables for dinner tonight, we want to get all the dirt off. "yes, dirt yucky" says Murray.

"What's that?" He asks. "That's a carrot." I reply. "That's no carrot, that's too big." Says Murray. So, I show him the baby carrots we eat for snack and explain "These are baby carrots, they're washed and cut before we buy them at the store. These are big carrots that grow in the ground. Mommy will wash and peel them and we'll it them for dinner." "I like carrots!" Was Murray's response.

And then we moved onto the potatoes: "What's that?" he asks. "That's a potato." I say. "I no like potatoes." says Murray. "Well, we don't like to eat them before they're cooked Murray, but you do like potatoes." "No, mommy like potatoes...I no like potatoes." insists Murray.

"Murray, mommy doesn't make potatoes very often. Daddy doesn't like potatoes, but I'm pretty sure Murray likes potatoes." I respond, beginning to think dinner is going to be a long battle. "I no like potatoes, mommy like potatoes, I pick potatoes for mommy." He says pointing to the window sill. There sits our last ripe tomato off the vine from the backyard.

"Oh," I say. "Yes, mommy likes tomatoes, Murray does not like tomatoes. But, these are P-P-P-potatoes...not T-T-T-tomatoes. Murray likes P-P-potatoes!" This continued for quite some time attempting to distinguish between potatoes and tomatoes. At dinner Murray gobbled up his potatoes but then had to ask again, "I like potatoes, but I no like tomatoes?" (both words sound the same coming from Murray...barely recognizable as different words. So with our foreheads pressed together giggling we once again revisited the difference between potatoes and tomatoes...but he ate the potatoes, so whatever he has to say about them, I'll take that!