What did you say?

My youngest child is the only one who was born and raised in Texas. So when he came home from kindergarten saying he had colored his paper with crans, it took me a minute to understand what he was saying.

"Your what?" I asked.

"Crans, mom! I already said that."

Crans?

I had no clue what he was saying.

"Do you mean crayons?" I emphasized that there were two syllables, cray-ons. Tucker looked up at me incredulously, exasperated at my delayed understanding.

"YES, Mom!"

I was amazed that the two of us were saying the same word. We were.

A few weeks later, I went to pick up my daughter from school. She was in 7th grade at the time. I waited and waited and waited. She finally walked out of the school and got in the car. Annoyed, I asked why she was so late? She explained that the school had a big assembly about bowling, and it ran a bit late.

"Bowling? Why did your school have an assembly about bowling?"

I was seriously confused. I started thinking about how they sometimes bring in kids who jump rope and talk about heart health, so maybe it was like that? It didn't seem likely...bowling? I kept driving home, but my mind was perplexed. I asked Julie questions, hoping to gain some understanding.

"How did they do an assembly about bowling? What kinds of things did they talk about?"

Julie was getting frustrated with me.

"I don't know, Mom! Just stuff with bowling!"

I couldn't let it go. I could not fathom how a junior high could possibly hold a bowling assembly?! What was I missing here? I tried again.

"Did they ask if you like bowling? Would you bowl more if you had more money? Or would you bowl more if you had a ride..."

Julie busted up laughing.

"MOM!!"

I started laughing as well, but only because she was. I was genuinely attempting to piece this bowling puzzle together.

"IT WAS AN ASSEMBLY ABOUT BULLYING! NOT BOWLING!"

Oh. Ohhhh, okay. Everything made sense now, including the ridiculous questions I had been asking. Julie and I could not stop laughing. We laughed the rest of the car ride home and several times since.

I have found deeper meaning in these hilarious exchanges with two of my kids, and I think it can be applied broadly. How many of us get frustrated with each other so quickly, when we just don't understand what is being said? I think it happens all the time.

We should try harder to understand one another. Maybe the next time you're feeling frustrated, or just confused, you can remember that crans and crayons are the same thing...and bullying and bowling are not.