Oh, the kinds of conversations young boys require of their mothers!
This morning, before he was even out of his pajamas, Stephen was full of boyish questions: “If someone shot you in the leg with a BB gun, would you die?”
“Probably not,” I told him, “But it would certainly hurt.”
He thought over my answer for a bit, but then persisted. “What if they shot you a whole bunch of times in one leg? Then would you die?”
“Um, no. It would just hurt a lot.”
Stephen chewed his lower lip as he considered this, but still he was not satisfied.
“It would hurt, but you wouldn’t die?” he asked again.
I was about to confirm my original response, but then I saw the hope and anticipation in my young boy’s eyes.
“Well,” I finally added, “I suppose you could get a terrible infection from a BB shot in your leg and then you might die from that.”
Stephen nodded with solemn satisfaction.
“Yes,” he agreed. “That’s just what I thought.”