Broken stuff

Little boy: "Dad, why do things get old and break off?"

Dad: "You mean like tree branches?"

Little boy: "No...well, yeah...but I mean like my brother's scooter. It's older than my new one and the back wheel just fell off."

Dad: "That happens. As something gets older it becomes more fragile. Do you know what fragile means?"

Little boy: "Yeah. It means you have to be careful with it."

Dad: "Correct. As something is getting older - like your brothers scooter - we have a tendency to forget to take very good care of it. The scooter gets thrown in the corner of the garage until the next time it's needed, and eventually it breaks."

Little boy: "What about tree branches? Do we cause them to break too?"

Dad: "Tree branches get old of course, and sometimes they get bugs in them that eat away slowly and make them die. The good thing is a new branch usually is born to replace the old branch."

Little boy: "When my scooter gets older, I'm not going to ride it too hard because I want it to last forever."




(Rrrring, rrrrrring)
"Hello?"

"Hi mom, it's me."

"Well hello there stranger. I haven't heard from you in a long time. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah...yeah...everything is fine. I was just calling to say hi. Dad feeling ok these days...?"