The kids and I have developed a pretty good routine for spending relaxed time together. C has a bunch of wooden trains in his room that he loves to play with. I sit by the bed and read stories to them while he and his brother switch between playing with the trains and interacting with me. It’s a surprisingly fun time that usually involves singing, dancing, stories, and trains. Really, what could be better than that?

We were doing that last night while J was getting dinner ready. At one point, C stumbled across a little toy foam shark that he has. It was roughly the same size as the trains, so he started pushing it around the tracks.

Train shark!

His brother found a similarly sized toy fish, and suddenly the train tracks were an undersea public transportation system for foam fish. I was laughing at that and reading Barnyard Dance, when suddenly he picked up the shark and zoomed it over to me.

"Oh no! Watch out! The shark’s going to bite you!"

I dropped the book and prepared to run, saying "Oh no!"

He slowed down before he reached me. "Better say McDonald! The shark’s going to get you! Better say McDonald!"

Confused, I just looked at him and said "McDonald?"

He laughed and zoomed the shark away. I looked at N to see if he knew what was going on, but he was back to playing with the trains. I stared at him for a bit, trying to see if I could figure out what "McDonald" was.

Then I spotted C sneaking up on me with the shark in his hand. I shouted "McDonald!" and he zoomed the shark away agan.

This continued until J called us for dinner. He’d fly the shark over to bite me – sometimes sneaking, sometimes just running fast. If I didn’t say "McDonald", he’d poke me with it and say "Oh No! The shark bit you! Better say McDonald!"

The only "McDonald" I can think of is the one behind the golden arches.

I have no idea what (or who) C could be talking about.

However, if you see him sneaking up on you with a toy shark in his hand, I suggest you shout "McDonald". In fact, it’s not a bad idea if you see him sneaking up on you with a pillow, either.

Who knows what will happen?