So I just hit the publish button yesterday on gobbles three year letter, which contained tidbits of his imagination from happenings many weeks ago.  I think we figured out last night that though yes, he does have a creative mind, it may be influenced by his ridiculous power of observation and inference morese than where does he come up with this stuff.

As we were getting dinner together, feeding the lil lobster roll (she's on a cereal kick this week bc she's cutting an entire grill up top), and bugging gobbles to come sit at the table while he was playing in the family room, the following conversation happened:

Me: So it was the wierdest think when I got home, I was outside with the dogs and the lobster and I heard all these sirens, and these wierd popping sounds in the distance, like firecrackers but not, maybe like gunshots- what do they sound like far away?
(cue 5 minute convo on sounds of gunshots and echos and movies vs real life)
Hubs: (concluding): they probably were not gunshots
Me: well anyway it freaked me out and the dogs were acting wierd, so I just thought what would I do of someone was at the shopping center then was coming through the woods and I decided I'd run off the wall and hide down there with the baby.
Hubs: What wall?
Me: The little retaining wall by the swingset. But then I thought I'd have to come in and get Gobbles so I'd rush back in, lock the door from the sunporch to give us some extra seconds, then run out the front door and down the lawn.
Hubs: You are nuts, you know that, right?
Me: I know, but it was a lot of sirens I heard on the pike, my mind just went wild.
Gobbles: (wandering into the room and crawling into my lap at the dinner table) What man is coming thru the woods? Why is the man coming through the woods? We have to run out the front door?
Me and hubs: (oh shit!  plus a LOOK from hubs) No, no of course not! (cue long drawn out explanation on imagination vs reality)

15 minutes and 5 topics later, after reading the kids' daily reports from school and discussing other calm topics, I caught Gobbles looking down the darkened hall off the kitchen tentatively.
Me: whatcha lookin at buddy?
Gobbles: there's nobody coming to get us?
Hubs just looks at me. Way to go.

Parenting FAIL.

Tonight's lesson- even when the kids look ad act preoccupied, they are always, ALWAYS listening. CRAP.

By the way, this conversation isn't verbatum - apparently I use like as my filler word, and Gobbles has picked up on that.  Every other sentence out of his mouth is like this or like that.  How in the world do I get him to stop when I don't even realize I do it!

Nothing will get by me Momma, my salamander and I are ready to take on the world!  One scary guy at a time!