Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Summoning Powers

Bryn's not the dullest pencil in the box, but she definitely doesn't have everything thing figured out yet. A couple of weeks ago Peter was putting Calvin down for a nap when he heard whimpering. He went out and found Bryn cowering behind the couch sobbing and clearly out of sorts.

P: What's wrong?
B: I'm afraid I called the police.
P: Why, were you playing with the phone?
B: No, I was using the computer and I heard sirens so I was afraid I may have called them on accident.
P: You didn't. You can't call the police with PBS kids.org [or dot-dot-dot org as Calvin calls it].

Yesterday I was changing Ivy's diaper and she ran in to her room with tears in her eyes and a worried expression.

Me: What's wrong Bryn; are you afraid you contacted the police again?
B: Yes.
Me: Were you on the phone?
B: No.
Me: Were you using the computer?
B: No, but I was standing near it. And I heard sirens. And I'm afraid I accidentally called them.
Me: You didn't. Even if you did, why does that worry you? They're very nice and would understand it was a mistake.
B: Oh. I thought they were coming to take me or someone in our family to jail.
Me: No one in this house is going to jail. We didn't do anything wrong.
B: But what if someone else called them and told lies about us?
Me: [explained the assumption of innocence and the burden of proof]

Poor kid and her mystical police summoning powers.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

That's awesome! At least she understands that fake calling the police isn't a good thing.

Kimberly said...

Oh, Bryn. You are too cute.

Karen said...

What?! You can't call the police through pbs.org?!

Drewmeister said...

Poor kid. Hopefully those magical police-summoning powers disappear soon.

JZM said...

I think you guys need to move out of that crime infested area and quit letting her stay up late at night watching crime investigation shows. How funny.

David said...

Oh the fears and misperceptions of children! After we convince her that the policeman is our friend, we need to work on the "bugs and bees" issue.

Laura said...

When I was Bryn's age, I threw a candy wrapper out the window, so Mom told me that it was illegal to litter. I spent the afternoon crying behind the front room couch because I was sure the police were going to show up any second. It was highly traumatizing. Mom found me eventually and convinced me that I probably wouldn't have to do any time.

Joe and Joanne said...

What show is that girl watching anyway? NYPD Blue?

I have to agree though that sirens are scary; even at my age. Poor Bryn...

Swoopref said...

I must tell Robert about this... what a sweet girl.