Fertilize - [fur-tl-ahyz] - verb - to poop on

We are currently taking a break from The Magic Treehouse book series and are reading The Boxcar Children before bed right now. I read that book when I was little and am kind of surprised it holds their attention, but Tyler & Danielle seem to enjoy it.


In the part we read tonight, the Alden children were walking through the woods when their dog started barking and ran after a hen. The kids found the hen's eggs in the unattended nest and took them to eat for dinner.


Danielle was horrified - "They're going to eat the baby chickens!" I told her these eggs didn't have chickens in them - not all eggs do. She thought for a second and then asked why some eggs do and some don't. I was afraid of the follow-up questions, but I really couldn't think of another vaguely honest answer to give her, so I replied, "The eggs don't have baby chickens in them unless the boy chicken fertilizes them." Then I immediately started reading again, hoping she would lose interest. I read a couple more sentences before she interrupted, "What does 'fertilize' mean?"


I paused for a minute while I tried to think of a safe response. I must have stalled long enough because Tyler spoke up: "Fertilize is like when you plant pumpkin seeds. After you plant them, something poops on them and that fertilizes them and makes them grow."


While Danielle considered his answer, I could just imagine the picture playing in her head: a boy chicken pooping on a girl chicken's eggs, and this somehow causing a baby chicken to grow inside the egg. Finally she looked at me and said, "Really?!?"


I'm such a coward. I mumbled something like "I'll explain it to you when you're older" and quickly continued to read. Just call me "chicken". (ha)





Here are a few puppy pictures. Clara has figured out how to go up the steps but still can't get down very well. She has also learned to sit on command and is crazy about puppy treats!