In Which I Have Difficulty Keeping It Together

G went into the ravine yesterday with some friends, even though I had expressly forbidden it. I told him we would discuss this with his mom when she came home. Our conversation went thusly:

Mom - G, there are strange men in the ravine.

G - Not where we were!

Mom - If you don't believe me, we can go down and watch them and you will never want to go down there again.

Me - (trying to hide a smile)

Mom - I'm telling you, there are strange men there. And they like little boys.

G - (looking perplexed, distracted by his quest for more chicken)

Me - (still trying not to smile)

C, across the room - Do they want to kidnap him?

Mom - I don't know if they want to kidnap him, but they want to do SOMETHING to him... (she KNOWS I'm cracking up)

C - They want to take him home and cook him and fry him for dinner!!

Me - (bursts of laughter)

Mom - (silently eating her chicken, totally non-plussed)

Today, C and I went into the ravine. We didn't see any strange men, and he seemed to have entirely forgotten the matter. Which I suppose is for the best.