Just in time for Thanksgiving: Boys have a thing and girls don’t.
On a brisk November day, as I collected my young daughter from her kindergarten class, she eagerly climbed into the backseat of the car.
“What did you learn in school today?” I inquired.
She excitedly burst out, “We discovered that boys are not the same as girls!”
Peering into the rearview mirror, catching just a glimpse of her head, I listened as she continued, “My teacher said boys have a special thing that girls don’t.”
“Yes, that is true,” I replied hesitantly.
We rode in silence for a short while until she blurted out once more, “That thing lets girls know they’re looking at a boy!”
The drive home seemed to stretch on forever as I grasped for a new topic. She then said, “Did you know boys puff up when they see a girl?”
Sweat gathered in my palms as I struggled to respond. Before I could, she pondered aloud, “Why do girls like that boys have those things?”
Caught off-guard, I could only mutter, “Well, you see…”
However, she didn’t need my answer; she had her own theory. “Because it wiggles when they walk! That’s how girls can tell it’s a boy, and that’s when they start to like them. The boy puffs up, the girl sees he likes her, and then they get married and then they get cooked.”
Her last remark had me puzzled, but it seemed she had an interesting perspective on things. Once home, she eagerly jumped from the car, clutching a drawing from her school bag.
“I drew a picture,” she announced. “Want to see?”
I was apprehensive, but I agreed to look. Suddenly, I found myself needing to sit down.
What she revealed with pride was a colorful depiction of a grand Tom Turkey, his snood—the dangling appendage above his beak—splendidly drawn, and tail feathers on full display.
Her art sparked laughter in me until tears streamed down my face. Upon expressing my adoration for her masterpiece, she let go of any slight upset at my reaction.
While the conversation faded for her, it echoed persistently for me each year. Frankly, my view of both turkeys and men has never quite been the same.