This post originally appeared on The Parenting Post on July 31, 2006.
We’ve been fishless for months since my last attempt at explaining death to Laylee. For some reason, last week I decided we were ready to try it again. Please meet the newest member of our family:
Me: What should we call the fish?
Laylee: He’s Jack again.
Me: Jack-Again? That’s a funny name.
Laylee: Yeah. I called him that because he’s Jack… Again.
You see, Laylee is a strong believer in resurrection… resurrection and cloning… by a God who drives a car, sneaks around in the dark like the tooth-fairy, and can be enticed to do your bidding if you simply use “the magic word.”
Laylee: Look mama. My knee is getting better.
Me: Wow. What a great blessing.
Laylee: Last night Heavenly Father came down in his car — well he came down out of heaven into my room and he put new skin onto it. But I didn’t see him because I was sleeping.
Me: Sort of. He just made your body special so it could heal itself.
Laylee: When you go away to Calin-forna , he can come down and make me a new mommy and then when you get back I’ll have two Kathryns. And he can make another Daddy and another Magoo.
Me: He doesn’t actually really do that. Not that he can’t. He can do anything. He just doesn’t.
Laylee (having seen her first set of twins recently): But that girl had two little babies! I want us to have two Magoos too.
Me: Well, that won’t happen but I bet some time Mommy can grow a new baby in her tummy.
Laylee: Okay, but I want a girl baby.
Me: We’ll have to see.
Laylee: We can just drive up to heaven and say, “Excuse me, Heavenly Father. Can we have a girl baby please?”
Me: Then we’ll just have to see what he decides.
Laylee: But we can say “PLEASE…”
