“Mommy, what’s meat made out of?” is how my morning hike with Aubrey started. “Hmmm, don’t you mean plastic?” Daily she asks me how plastic is made, and I guess I have been unable to explain the makings of plastic thoroughly enough for her. Either that or kind of like finding the center of a tootsie pop, she’s seeing how many times she can ask the same question before she finds my center of crazyness. “No, what’s meat made of.” Frantically I stall while I calculate the therapy bills that I’ll have if I answer this one incorrectly. “Mom, you didn’t anwer my question.” There’s my own behavior thrown back in my face. Alright, I decide to keep it simple, kind of like the birds and bees talk with Emma let her lead the discussion and see how she feels about it all. I started with chickens, they are my least favorite of animals, with their stinky poo and well I just don’t think highly of chickens, and they don’t have big brown eyes with long lashes that stare at you. “Chicken is made of chicken.” Pause… “and bacon is made from pigs.” I’m feeling confident now. “Hamburgers are made from cows.” “Does that make sense?” So Aubrey didn’t say anything for a long time, and then she burst out, “Oh I get it! meat is made of meat!!!” “Yep that’s right” why didn’t I think of that? Another great conversation with my 4 year old.