I remember one Saturday evening back a few years ago, when we were living in a different house and only had one little guy. I had spent the day doing yard work, and the three of us were sitting together at dinner. Foremost on my mind that evening was evidence of moles that I had found in the yard. I didn’t (and still don’t) know any good cure for moles, and my wife and I were tossing back and forth possible solutions.

When our (almost 2 year old) son asked what a mole was, I explained that it was kind of like a mouse. It took him a while to accept that a mole was, in fact, like a mouse, but he finally did.

A few seconds later, he looked at his momma. Back then, she had a mole by the temple of her left eye. It wasn’t an unattractive thing, but certainly noticeable to little kids. He pointed to it. “That’s a mouse!”

We laughed. If a mole is like a mouse, and momma had a mole on her face, then it stood to reason (for a toddler) that momma was growing mice out of her face.

We explained that there were different kinds of moles. Some were like mice and some were… not.

He pointed at her mole again. “No, that’s not a mouse. That’s a pineapple!”

Needless to say, momma doesn’t have that particular pineapple any more.