Something no one ever prepared me for was the fact that once I began reproducing, every stranger on earth would find it socially acceptable to share whatever was on their mind with me. Andy doesn't seem to have any weird stranger stories for me, so maybe my mommyness creates an ambience of kinship around others who are needing to share their humanity. Whatever it is, I've learned to just accept it as a normal part of my day.
For example, as the girls and I were walking home from the library, we saw a man, who I would guess to be in his late fifties, walking up to the library, towards us. As he approached us, he blocked our path on the sidewalk and said, without introduction:
"What do you call a squirrel's nest?"
Maybe it has to do with being the parent of four relatively small and silly kids, but the question didn't seem all that abnormal. I just decided to play along.
"Hmmm. I don't know...what?" I dramatically pondered.
He gave us a grin and replied, "A nutcracker suite!" and chuckled and went on his merry way.
