An Old Joke

When Aislinn turned five, the HP gave her an Eric Carle book called Mr. Seahorse which was all about the daddy fish in nature that take care of the fish eggs before they hatch. One of these fish is Mr. Tilapia, which Lauren, who was not quite three, called Mr. Tiyapia. Mr. Tiyapia apparently carries the fish eggs in his mouth to keep them safe before they hatch. Once Lauren acquired this little bit of knowledge, she spent the entire summer having the following conversation with any one who would pay attention to her:

Lauren: Lily/Elizabeth/Grandma/etc., guess what

Lily/Elizabeth/Grandma/etc.: What?

Lauren: I had a dream about you last night.

Lily/Elizabeth/Grandma/etc.: Really.

Lauren: Uh huh. You had a baby in your mouth. HAHAHAHAHA!

Lily/Elizabeth/Grandma/etc.: Blank stare

No one understood this joke, including me, until I finally made the Mister Tiyapia connection and tried to tell people why she was saying this. Eventually, whenever she launched into the joke, people would humor her and say "oh my!" and she remained convinced it was one of the funniest things anyone had ever heard.

What does this story have to do with the events of the past few days? Nothing really, except that I encountered Mr. Tiyapia at the fish counter yesterday.

He was deyicious.