My Son, the Catholic...

This morning, 6:40 am:

Happy Fat Wednesday Mom.

Uh...today is Ash Wednesday. Yesterday was "Fat Tuesday"...so, happy Ash Wednesday.

Man, 40 days is a long time, huh? Like longer than a month...

Yes, it is longer than a month.

Are there going to be any Friday the 13th's in the next 40 days?

I have no idea.

Were there any Friday the 13th's when Jesus was in the desert for 40 days?

I have no idea.

Is grape soda really soda, or is it juice?

Soda.

This is going to be really hard!

Yesterday when I picked the boy up from school they were making Mardi Gras masks and bead necklaces. I asked the kids, "Are you guys making this for Fat Tuesday?" They all gave me blank stares. I said, "Mardi Gras?" and the boy says, "What is Mardi Gras?" I told him we would read about it when we got home. So while the boy and the dude were working on homework, I looked up Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, and Ash Wednesday and reported my findings back to the boy.

"So, Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, and Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Lent is when you give up something important to you for 40 days representing the 40 days that Jesus supposedly went into the desert, fasted, prayed and came out and started preaching to people."

This is when the boy decided that he would give up soda for 40 days.

My need to keep my son informed on the world around him has led to him now participating in Catholic ritual. I will not discourage it, as there are far worse things than not drinking soda for 40 days... I will however try to keep information to an absolute boring minimum if anything ever comes up about Cults, or Virgin Sacrifices.