Jokes on Me

On a trip to the library last week, we grabbed the usual fare: books about whales and Egypt and tools and animals. There was the obligatory Seuss and a chapter book or two. And a movie about pirates, a reward for good behavior or maybe because I was feeling tired.

As we were moving toward the checkout I noticed a beautifully illustrated book featuring a lovely woman with big eyes and rosy cheeks and long, long lashes. I slipped the book into our stack, figuring I would pull it out to read later and then be met with groans and sighs. And then we'd all laugh at how I tried to torture the boys with this book on beauty and ladies and all things delicate. Mom knows funny!

For the last few days, the book has been on the coffee table amidst all our other selections. As I suspected, no one has been clamoring to read it. But this morning, Charlie was sitting in the front room reading quietly before breakfast. At some point, I noted that he was reading this particular book, the one about the beautiful lady, and I watched with glee as he turned the pages. I waited for him to moan and groan and roll his eyes.

But he did not. Instead, he started to laugh.

"This is awesome," he said after a minute.

"What's so funny," I asked him.

"The woman has a beard!"

It turns out the woman is indeed a beauty, but her beauty is never noticed -- because she is the bearded lady in the traveling circus.