Mornings with Eli

I treasure the drive to school each morning with my son. Really. I never know what topic of conversation will come up, and today it was rhinos.

It's like this every weekday. It's just me and Eli in the car since his older sister has gone off to the wilds of middle school and even if it's a scant ten minute ride, he has a lot to say.
"Do rhinos eat dandelions, mom?"
"Well, a rhino would probably eat a dandelion. I think they like to eat flowers whenever they can."
"Would a rhino trample your flowers?"
"Most likely, but that would be okay if we had a pet rhino. Pets do stuff you don't like but you keep them anyway."
"Could we have a pet rhino?"
"No, we don't have a big enough yard and you would need a REALLY strong fence to keep it in the yard."
"How much does a rhino weigh?"
"..............."
"Mom?"
"Ummmmm, probably about as much as a car. I'm not really sure."
"Where do rhinos live? Africa and Asia?"
"Pretty sure about the Africa part, but I don't know about Asian rhinos. I know there are elephants in Asia. You know, rhinos are endangered, there aren't many left in the wild because people hunt them for their horns."
"Why? Do they eat the horns? Do they eat the rhinos?"
"No, they just kill the rhino and chop off its horn for wacky medicine."
"That's mean!"
"I know, and it's very sad and very wrong to do."
"I would keep a rhino for a pet if I could. Mom, I really wanted to go back to bed and not go to school."
"I know, babe. Me too. But you are early today! You can play on the playground with your friends while you wait for the bell. And maybe we can get your hair cut after school today. It's getting so long and will start to get hot when summer comes."
"Do rhinos sweat?"
"........... "
"Mom?"
"I don't know, sweetie, but I will google it when I get home and find out for you. Here we are! There's Miss Bonnie waiting for you."

He reminds me of Dead Man Walking some days when he gets out of the car to go into school. It really cracks me up, because once he is actually in the building he has tons of kids saying hi to him and he generally has a good time, but getting him there......

"You have a great day sweetie, I'll be right here waiting when you get out this afternoon."
"........."
"Eli?"
"I really wanted to go back to bed."


For the record, rhinos do sweat.