"neil, would you like an hors d'oeuvre?"
(puzzled look)
"our chefs have been working all afternoon preparing the finest!"
(i tip the plate his way)
"thank you. "
(he takes a bite)
"daddy, this is just bread!"
my 3-and-a-half year old son shares his insights on music, tv, food, pop culture... anything that can be criticized.
"neil, would you like an hors d'oeuvre?"
(puzzled look)
"our chefs have been working all afternoon preparing the finest!"
(i tip the plate his way)
"thank you. "
(he takes a bite)
"daddy, this is just bread!"
"what does the red light mean, neil?"
"stop!"
"yes. what does green mean?"
"go!"
"that’s right. what does yellow mean?"
"up!"
"well, uh... that would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?"
“are you playing paddle ball?”
“yes. hitting. i like playing paddle ball. paddle ball. that says paddle ball. i like hitting it. playing with my train. looking at my planets. that’s a good idea. done.”
"what does this sound like neil?"
"1 million dollars!"
"really? ok... anything else? can you tell me what key this is in? or what the time signature is?"
"free time!"
"yes, well... very good then."
"i'm proud of you daddy!"
"does this sound good neil?"
"yes."
"is there a message to this song?"
"he said 'doo dee doo, dah dee dah!' "
"isn't that deep?"
"no, that's silly!!!"
"neil, did you know they spent 1 million dollars making this album?"
"no. "
"does it sound like 1 million dollars?"
"yes. great job everybody!"
"its the beatles! it got beats!!"
and then he ran out of the room as fast as he could.
"it’s a cymbal and a drum. and a guitar with strings on it making music."
"that's right."
"i wanna play a guitar."
"you can play all the guitar you want when you’re a little more grown up."
"i don't wanna grow up!"
"yeah, me either."
"me either, either, either!"
"no! not now! milk!"
"you just had milk. you can have more after you eat some sweet potato."
"that's not right i think what."
"you think what?"
"yeah."
we get into a stare-off for a few seconds, then neil puts the smallest piece of sweet potato in his mouth and doesn't chew.
“milk!”
"do you like this music?"
"yeah."
"how come?"
neil just stares into space for the next couple of minutes. then he asks:
"where is this song?"