What is that smell?

Jack is in love with stories. He loves to tell them, hear them, and read them. OVER AND OVER. Usually I try to limit his bedtime story to only one, because once he convinces you to read a second you might as well settle in for the entire night. He is very persuasive. He would do well in politics.

So tonight during our story reading, he chose his 1,000,000 Tractors book. I hate this book. First of all, it wouldn't be so bad if it legitimately listed millions of tractors. But it doesn't. It covers the same material over and over. And over. Right into Yawn-ville. But Jack is a strict listener and won't let you skip a tractor, much less a page, and often (to make sure that you're paying attention) will quiz you to catch you in a repetitive lie.

For whatever reason, both of us were feeling quite punchy tonight as we read Tractormania for the n-th time. We got to the farming section and I was listing the various machines used on the farm. One of them was a manure spreader. Jack asked me, "What's manure?" I paused. I looked at his little face and I could not lie.

"It's cow poop," I told him in a serious voice.
"Oh," he said, nonplussed..."cow poop."

And then we lost it. We giggled hysterically for approximately 10 minutes straight. I have not had a laughing fit like that since the 1st grade. (Well, that is a bold-faced lie. I admittedly had to excuse myself the night after Thanskgiving after losing it in front of my in-laws for some asinine reason. I could barely see through my tears as I ran upstairs. The worst part is that they were completely unfazed...I have a reputation.) But I have not giggled THIS much over something so silly in quite a long time and it felt GREAT. We rolled in his bed laughing and laughing, and when I could I would manage to whisper "manure" and it would start all over again.

To conclude, I have to say that this kid has one amazing sense of humor. Or else mine is really lame and is on par with a 3-year old's. Either way, we are happy and laughing.