The pants story.

The other day the phone rang and Nate answered it. I could hear him laughing. After hanging up he came over to Viggo and said, "Well, Viggo, Ryan's mom called to let you know she has your pants; she washed them and they're all clean. You can pick them up the next time you go over to play."

I asked the obvious question: "Viggo, why does Ryan's mom have your pants?"

Viggo said, "I don't know."

Huh.

So then Nate asked, "Did she wash them because they were dirty?"

"Oh - yeah! We were playing in the slush and stuff in the field and they got all muddy."

I asked the other obvious question: "Well honey, if she kept your pants at their house, what did you wear when you walked home?"

"Uhh . . . . I don't know."

"Did you wear some other pants or did you just walk down the street in your winter coat and your skivvies?"

"I don't know."

"You have no idea if you walked home pantsless in 30 degree weather."

"I don't know what I was wearing."

"Well at any rate, just remember to get your pants back."

"Okay."

"And be sure to thank Ryan's mom for washing your pants."

"Okay."

The next day while I was doing laundry I found a pair of jeans in his size, but they definitely weren't his jeans. After breathing a sigh of relief that Viggo did not walk down the street partially naked, but wore some borrowed clothing, I was still amazed that he couldn't seem to remember if he was or was not wearing pants in freezing weather, out in public. I mean that just strikes me as something that could be recalled with perfect clarity: you are either wearing pants in freezing weather, or you're not.

You can decide for yourself what makes sense.