You Really Do Need What You Learn in Pre-K

“You are making that up.” I said as I kept serving dinner.


But my daughter insisted, “I saw it!” as she dug through the backpacks and bags that were supposed to be neatly stashed in the cubbies.

“You’re telling me she sneezed.” I repeated incredulously.

My four year old daughter (the sneezer) nodded her head violently in agreement. “And the meatball went flying.” She drew a rainbow arc in the air with her finger. My older daughter cut in, “and it landed but we don’t know where. So now I’m looking for it so we won’t find ants.”

“You’re saying that after being served a plate of spaghetti, all covered with cheese, she lost her poor meatball because she sneezed?”

I wasn’t buying. There was just no way. No way this happened. I ordered them to the table.

“But the ants.” My daughter protested.

I looked at the decidedly meatball and sauce free floor. “If there are ants attracted to a meatball and it’s on the floor, if they find it, we’ll be able to follow them to find it.” I explained, “Now sit.”

Dinner proceeded as planned, with the occasional requests for seconds, requests for something else, and complaints that the meal included a vegetable. When we were finished, Paul (the almost 2 year old) was all covered in sauce. Whisking him to the showers, I asked the oldest three to clean up.

They cleared the table and pulled back the chairs and under Paul’s highchair, was the meatball gone awol. My daughter brought the saucy thing to me as evidence, in truthful triumph. What could I say except….”If you eat spaghetti….all covered in cheese…..hold onto your meatballs….and don’t ever sneeze.”