Well, first of all I should tell you that we have a reward system at our house. I built a set of Lego stairs and there's a little Lego fireman that climbs the stairs when Flik is well behaved. When the fireman gets to the top, Flik gets a treat. In case you're wondering, a typical treat is 2 TV tokens, each worth 30 minutes of TV, and a juice box. Yeah, we're crazy with the treats around here. If he's having a normal day, I try to have the fireman makes it to the top of the stairs once per day. The Lego fireman is so cute. He's got an ax and everything.
So a couple days ago, I told Flik that the next time his fireman got to the top of the stairs, we'd get him a chocolate shake. Later that day, I had Flik with me while I went through McDonald's drive-thru to get a a Diet Coke. Now he knew that back at home that fireman had not reached the top of the stairs, but he still really wanted me to get him a chocolate shake.
Mommy: Flik, I told you that we will get you a shake when the fireman reaches the top of the stairs.
Flik: I know. But can we PLEEEEEEEAAAAAASE get a chocolate shake and bring it home and keep it in the freezer until the fireman reaches the top of the stairs.
Mommy: Sweetie, trust me, you don't want to keep your chocolate shake in the freezer. It'll turn into a chocolate ice cube and you won't be able to drink it through the straw.
Flik: Then can we keep it in the 'frigerator?
Mommy: No, sweetie. If we keep it in the refrigerator it'll melt, and then you'll just have chocolate milk?
Flik: Then how do they keep the chocolate shakes at McDonald's?
Mommy: (My kid is so smart.) Well, they have a machine that keeps it really cold like a freezer, but it also keeps stirring and stirring it so that it never turns into an ice cube.
Flik: Then how do they get the chocolate shake out?
Mommy: It comes out through the spigot into a cup.
Flik: What's a "spigot"?
Mommy: Ummmm..... (Hmm) It's a.... (How the heck do you define a spigot?)... thing that stuff comes out of. (That was helpful. Could I be a little more vague? Seriously, though, what's a spigot?)
Flik: Like a chimney?
Mommy: No. A chimney's not a spigot. A spigot is something liquids come out of, like water or soda.
Flik: But stuff comes out of a chimney; like smoke. But mostly Santa.
(Mommy laughing.)
Flik: But Santa's not a liquid.
So I finally looked up the definition for "spigot" when I got home. If you would have told your kid, "it's a faucet," then you win a prize, because that's the best kid-friendly answer to that question there is. At the time I was kinda' trying to figure out how a spigot is different than a faucet. Guess I over thought it, because I doubt, "a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid from a reservoir" would have been very helpful. Ah well, I know for next time.
