Out of the Mouths of Babes
Dec 28th, 2008 Posted in Being a Mom | 2 comments »
We’re a military family, and have often lived in the town just outside an Army post. While we were assigned to Fort Riley, Kansas, every time we drove on or off the installation, we had to pass through the downtown area, which had a row of strip clubs.
The kids were old enough to read, so it was hard to shield their eyes from signs that screamed “Nude Dancers Nightly,” or “Different Strippers Each Night!” I would try to distract them in some way every time we approached that area of town.
One of the clubs was called “The Top Hat Club,” and had a picture painted on its large plate glass window of a top hat, a walking cane, and folded gloves over the cane.
Our son, who was about 11 at the time, thought the picture was of a magician’s tools – with the cane as the magic wand.
He asked me so many questions about the place that I gave up deflecting them, and finally said, “Honey, I hate to have to tell you this, but that’s a place where men pay to see naked ladies.” He said, “WHY would they want to do THAT?” Totally flustered with the whole thing, I said, “I don’t know.”
All of a sudden, a knowing look spread across his face, and he said, “I know why men go there!
In horror, I said “You DO?”
My sweet boy said, “I get it now. They go in and pay their money, expecting to see a magic show, and the people trick them and show them naked ladies instead!!”
I was so glad that he had answered his own question in such a sweet and innocent way.
He’s 24 now, and we tease him mercilessly about it.
