walking and talking

it seems that isaac and i have some of our most colorful conversations while we are out walking. today we were strolling to the shops, the cold winter sun was shining and i was singing a song about mercy that has a line in it - "mercy is falling, is falling, is falling, mercy is falling like the sweet spring rain..." isaac interrupted me straight away and said "excuse me mommy, maybe superman can catch mercy falling from the sky."

as we got to the shops, we were just wandering around and we headed for the local version of a "superstore." once inside, isaac said "we can look at the toys but we don't need to buy anything" - isaac's statement was geoff's verbatim as this response is blessed fruit from geoff's repeated efforts at curbing isaac's desire to have lots of things. i said "good boy." he picked up many things and informed me that when he poops on the potty, he'll get this toy or that one. yesterday, on another walk, he told me that "when i get back to america i'm going to be a big, strong healthy boy and i'll poop on the potty then." we'll see.

as an aside and just a wee rant - since i haven't spent much time in the toy section, i was absolutely shocked at how many toys or gadgets pertained to violence. there were guns and swords of every sort. there was even a package of superman gloves for sale that advertised "punch and crush." even in a place like australia where gun laws are admirably strict, this is what children are sold. i thought of the line in xavier rudd's song, "better people," that says

"and it’s only a question of the time we have
and the lives that our children will lead
‘cause they can only keep growing up with what they know
from what we teach and what they see"