Yes, My Kids Are Strange

I have a couple of very strange kids.

My kids love to sing, like almost all kids. But while Tiny Princess (ever the perky-perfect child) will inevitably choose a stirring rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," Sonshine will, upon being requested to sing, launch into REM's "The One I Love". The songs they enjoy run the gamut from Gilbert and Sullivan's light opera "Pirates Of Penzance" to Voice Male's "Loch Lomond" to They Might Be Giants' "Dinner Bell" or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing the Air Force song.

But what really makes them stand out in a crowd is the sort of thing they did in the Italian restaurant today.

Their favorite dish at this restaurant is Clams Oregano. They love fishing the clams out of the broth, opening them up, and eating them. Yes, my weird kids love clams-- almost as much as they love hamburgers. But the restaurant didn't have any clams today, so we ordered escargot. And the kids had seconds. (For the uninitiated, escargot are snails.)

After that, Sonshine wet his pants and had to be taken out and changed.

And at the end of the meal, Sonshine saw the dessert plate and went crazy. He started ordering desserts: "I would like tiramisu, please!" "I would like a canole, please!" I swear I have never before heard a four-year-old use the word "tiramisu", let alone in the correct context. Thankfully, the waitress understood that four-year-olds are not allowed to order their own desserts, especially when they have largely ignored their angel hair pasta with pesto.

So yes, I am raising my kids to be very, very... different. And now I have a six-year-old who likes escargot, so long as it is not sprinkled with lemon juice, and a four-year-old who sings REM songs and orders tiramisu at restaurants.