Bird flu?

Yesterday Noodle and her friends found a dead bird and buried it. I found this out in a roundabout sort of way. Noodle asked me if I’d heard her and the other kids talking. I hadn’t, and told her so, and she was visibly relieved. Which of course made me suspicious. I asked her what they’d been talking about, and she said they found a dead bird and they wanted to be nice to it and put it in the ground. I asked her if they touched it with their hands. She looked at me, obviously knowing that the best answer would be no, but she said yes. So I told her how that isn’t a good idea because of disease, specifically the bird flu, and how she should use something else to move the bird in the future (I’m not about to tell her NOT to try and bury the bird, because I buried dozens of dead birds as a kid and I really don’t want her doing it secretly.) I also told her she could tell me and I could help them, because I know it is sad to see a dead bird.

This morning she brought it up again, and asked me to tell her about the diseases. She’s fascinated by all things health/body related, so I wasn’t surprised. She asked what if she saw a dead cat. I said she shouldn’t touch that with her hands, either. She asked, “Would it have cat walk?”

“Cat walk?” I asked. “What are you talking about? You said it was dead, so it can’t walk.”

“Well, it can’t fly like a bird, so would it have cat walk?” she asked again.

Finally it dawned on me. In her mind, bird flu = “bird flew”. I laughed at her cleverness, and how slow I was to catch on.

Of course, then I had to explain that flu is short for influenza...

She’s a pretty sharp kid.