It's Not Appropriate to Pee in the Cup

Cal may get up from his cozy bed to fall asleep on a rough, carpeted stair.  He also may not yet fully understand the importance of using toilet paper and opts not to use it more often than he does use it.  And he may eat dog food (just once).  Despite these facts, he's actually a pretty sharp kid.

Yesterday marked the start of the Stanley Cup Finals, and our beloved Blackhawks were (and still are) playing.  We had been at my dad's for most of the day, visiting with him, my cousin Jenna (in from Seattle) and my sister Erin and her boys Aidan and Zach.  A storm was passing through, so we were finished playing outsde and were all gathered inside in front of the TV.  The game was on, but was cutting in and out -- the storm was messing with the satellite signal.

Cal and Grandpa were cozily sharing a seat in the corner, the younger one chewing the older one's ears off with somewhat nonsensical stories about what, no one's really sure.  Cal does spend most of his awake hours talking or just making noises, so it wasn't surprising to me that he was monopolizing the conversation.  My dad can also be pretty chatty, so I did hear him manage to sneak a few words in.  His words were on the topic of the Stanley Cup.

Jonathan Toews holding the Stanley Cup (2010)

I forget exactly what my dad told him the Stanley Cup was -- some kind of prize for winning the championship or being the best, I'm sure.  I do remember him telling Cal about what's been done to/with the Stanley Cup, though, mostly centered around it not being the cleanest of things.  The Cup fact that most peaked Cal's interest was that people have urinated in it, or on it, or both.

Cal asked a few questions about that and made some more comments about peeing in the Cup, and my dad learned he probably shouldn't have brought this up -- drink from the Cup, yes; pee in it... maybe something to save for when Cal's older.

At any rate, Cal got back to monopolizing the conversation with the theme of the Stanley Cup when I heard him say this, "... and this is not appropriate," followed by something to the effect of "to pee in the Stanley Cup."

I'll never forget Jenna's expression after hearing him use the term "not appropriate."  She was dumbfounded and said, "is that typical?"  I was thinking she was referring to Cal's age group and not Cal, so I answered, "not really."  But it is typical of Cal.  The kid's been correctly using terms and understanding concepts beyond his years for a year or two now.

So he gets that peeing in a championship cup is "not appropriate."  Now, if I could only get him to connect that falling asleep on the stairs, not using toilet paper and eating dog food are also "not appropriate."