Dead Things

W, my almost 3 year old, became fascinated with understanding the word "dead" after visiting my sister's house over Christmas. He is trying to come to an understanding of the word, I think, as he uses it to describe anything that "doesn't work". Animals can be dead, just as a favorite toy which has "dead" batteries is dead.

My sister's husband is an avid and professional hunter, and has trophies displayed in their living room. One is the head of a bull elk. It is very impressive and caught W's eye immediately.

"What's that?"
"An elk," I told him, not paying much attention.
"What are those?" he continued.
"His horns."
"I don't see no legs," he said, cracking me up. "He's dead?"
"Yes, he's dead," I said.
W looked across the room to the deer on the wall. "Deer dead?"

He proceeded to go around the room looking at each animal. There were many: deer, ducks, mountain goats, fish, all proudly displayed. At each one, he asked if the animal was dead. Now, brother-in-law was in the room and was squirming a bit at the attention to the word. Enjoying the moment, I replied, "Yes, W, they are dead, Uncle Joe killed them." Uncle Joe was not amused. I was.