Table talk amongst our children is and always has been, - a rabbit warren . We start off in one hole and end up in another - quick smart.
Nothing new, then, when the grandchildren discuss a variety of subjects at the kitchen table.
We started off learning about moths and caterpillars. Insects in general. And then we digressed.
I was reading to them - explaining how each caterpillar has some type of protection installed in their bodies. Some are camouflaged. Some puff themselves up and look really strong and vicious. Some are brutish looking. Some are poisonous. And some smell real bad.
We were discussing the pus caterpillar.
"Mama, does the pus caterpillar smell like pus?"
"Do you know what pus is?" I asked, as I entered down the first rabbit warren...
"No, Mama - what is pus?
"You know that yellow stuff you get sometimes when you hurt yourself and it gets infected?"
"What's infected?"
"When your sore gets hot and swollen and red and sometimes, yellow stuff comes out of it? Well that is called pus"
"Yes, I know what it is. It stinks"
"What does it smell like?"
"Well, if you take off your earrings and smell them, that smells like pus. It's happened to me. When I take my earrings off, I get it all over me".
"What do you get all over you?" I asked
"The smell of pus".
Earrings were then taken off by their wearers, sniffed and promptly put back on, followed by a chorus of "eeewww" and "yukkkk"
Later:
As not to lead these grandchildren down the garden path (or the wrong rabbit warren), I explained that the pus caterpillar is actually called the 'puss' caterpillar, because it's coat is soft and furry, - like a pussy cat.
They liked that. They noted the double consonant.
And they preferred it to stinky pus.
Dead skin cells, bacteria, sebum and sweat are for another lesson.
Another day.
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