Don't Mess with Texum

I've made mention before of Graham's Mickey Mouse placemat map, but what I haven't adequately shared is its new-found celebrity status in our home.  Graham received it at the end of September as a small birthday gift, while Cael opened his Thomas the Train placemat in early October when he turned four.  I was so pleased with myself for finding such perfectly applicable gifts for my boys and knew-- just knew that they would love them.

And in the beginning, they did.  Cael was very happy to dine amongst the trains daily until he discovered that his placemat did not have a map on it, and the love affair was officially over.  Now we very rarely use the mats because it invites an inevitable avalanche of "I want it!" and "No, Mama!  Mat!" that I'd simply rather avoid.

But the other day, when Graham made it known that he would not (under any circumstances) lower himself to eat a ham sandwich, I handed the placemat over to my one and only diner. 

"Mommy, where is Iowa again?"

"Right here."

"It's not very big."

"Well, it's actually very big in real life.  But you're right that there are states that are bigger."

"Why is Iowa green?"

"I don't know, honey.  The states don't really have colors.  But the states at the bottom that are orange and yellow have warmer weather than the blue states up top."

"Look at that HUGE orange state!"

"Oh, yeah, that is Texas.  It is very big.  But there's one that is even bigger, right over here.  It's called 'Alaska'."

"No, it's tiny."

"Well, that picture is tiny, but it's actually bigger than all of the others."

"NO, it's not!  See?  Texum is bigger than Alaska."

"It's called Tex-AS, and I'm afraid it is smaller than Alaska, Cael." 

"Nope.  It's not.  It's HUGE and big and wide."

"Okay, whatever you say, dude."

"I say you're wrong." 

Ouch.  Don't mess with Texum.