Not about being fat, but funny nonetheless.

I work with children. I love kids! I have been working with kids since I was in camp fire and I knew from an early age that I would spend time with them. I have been in private practice for only about a year, and I spent the last 20 years in publicly funded mental health. Publicly funded mental health came about due to issues with institutionalization of individuals who didn't really need to be 'locked up' and in 1963 the government mandated that community mental health centers would be created to help people in an outpatient setting. So, I have seen my fair share of interesting in my life.

Luckily, when working with kids, there is more fun than 'interesting.' I mean, there are always cases that are sad, and difficult, but for the most part I have had one hell of a time. And, I have seen a great deal of kiddos grow up to be successful and happy adults. It's very rewarding...

Where am I going with this...

About 5 years ago, I was working with a brother and sister who were having problems transitioning between their divorced parents' homes. After going away to visit one parent for the weekend, there would be difficulty transitioning back into the routine of the other parent's home and getting back into school activities, etc. It's actually pretty normal for routine changes to be difficult, but parent's are usually to blame. But, I am not here to bitch and complain about that. I am here today to tell you about a very funny thing that was said during a play therapy session.

It was me, a 3 year old girl, her 5 year old brother and my colleague (a psychiatric nurse practitioner who was shadowing me to get some experience working with kids). We were on the floor with different types of dolls and I was asking them to play out the experience of how they were feeling. The boy usually would take one doll or dinosaur or whatever, and hit another doll and say he was 'mad.' Pretty normal stuff actually. His little sister wouldn't really say much, but she would just play with a dolly that she could change clothes and comb hair, etc. At this age, they didn't really play together, despite encouragement, so I just let them play. Out of nowhere, the little girl grabbed a pteradactyl (I know this isn't spelled right) and swept down and grabbed her little baby doll. She used the dinosaur to smash the baby doll over and over again. I was telling her, "Use your words now and tell me how you feel." (I know, so contrite and psychobabbly). She looked me straight in the eye, and said "MMMMMM, tastes like chicken."

I have never laughed so hard in my life!