Eden Story

This is the funniest story...I hope I can get it down right.

Eden sometimes spends the night with me and we have some pretty in depth conversations, even if she is only four years, old, she has a lot to say. So, Eden and I were sitting across from each other at my dining room table. She said, "Meema, what does 'cannibal' mean?" I, of course, had several things pop through my mind -- do I tell her what it is, do I not explain it in detail, what should I do? Anyway, I decided to just answer her question. I told her, "Well, Eden, a cannibal is a person who eats another person." She looks at me horrified and said, "They can't find us, can they?" I calmed her fears and told her that no, cannibals are mostly in Africa or other far away countries, and since she is four, I told her that no one does that anymore. (I didn't want to cause her any sleepless nights.) I went on to enquire about where she had heard that word. She said she didn't know. I assured her that cannibal wasn't a bad word and that she could tell me where she heard it. Then, I told her that I was sure that she did know where she had heard that word, and she told me that her cousins hollered "CANNIBAL" when they jumped into the pool. I was laughing so hard. After I could control myself, I explained to her that the boys were actually hollering, "cannon ball" when they jumped into the pool because they were rolling themselves into balls and jumping off into the water. She was very relieved that the boys weren't talking about cannibals. All's well that ends well.