jaycie, max and i toddled on down to culvers because we had all had enough of the bowling alley. as we sat there and ate our sundaes (cherry for jaycie, blueberry for max, hot fudge for me) we talked about movies (beetlejuice and shrek), art (crayons vs. markers), music (the dixie chicks), books (whether the max and ruby books were better than the tv show or not) and the supernatural. we’ve come a long way from acting out scenes from winne the pooh.

“aunt jodi are monsters real?” jaycie asked.
“no.”
“c’mon there’s got to be one real monster.”

i sat and pondered this for awhile.

“cookie monster!” i finally shouted. she was most pleased with that answer.
“aunt jodi are ghosts real?” she asked.
“no.”
“what about beetlejuice?”
“that’s a movie.”
“so.”
“movies aren’t real.”
“beetlejuice lived in that place with all the stones.”
“a cemetary.”
“yes, why did he live there?”
“because he’s dead.”
“he was a ghost,” jaycie said.
“i know,” i said.
“he tried to make lydia his bride and that’s not very nice because she didn’t want to be his bride and she’s alive.”
“yes.”
“can ghosts get married?”
“no, they aren’t real.”
“yeah, i think i knew that.”
“is the easter bunny real?”
“yes.”
“is the tooth fairy real?”
“yes.”
“where does she live.”
“i’m not sure.”
“what does she look like?”
“she’s teeny tiny.”
“like this?” max asked holding his fingers about an inch apart.
“smaller,” i said, “so small she could fit through a keyhole.”
“she can live in my dollhouse,” jaycie said.
“yes she could,” i said.
“where would she go potty?”
“she’d go when you were sleeping.”
“put the toilet’s too big. and the one in my dollhouse doesn’t work.”
“she’d sit on the edge.”
“that’s still too big.”
“i dunno then.”
“i know,” jaycie said, “she could use her magic wand and make it smaller than when she’s done she could make it big again.”