The little golden book story The Good Humor Man is a real favorite among the two-year-old inhabitants of our home. Perhaps it is yet more evidence of his deprivation that he demands books about ice cream because he gets so little of it in real life.
We've read it so much that it's more a recitation with page turns at this point, and Connery has his own favorite spots that he likes to "read". He's lately begun extemporizing familiar books, adding silly things that come to him or switching animals to make himself laugh. In I Can Fly, for example, I'll say, "I can squirm like a...?" and he'll answer, "Rhinocerous!" when it's supposed to be "worm". His ad-libbing took a funnier turn the other night during the umpteenth reading of Good Humor Man.
The text is supposed to be, "But where was Johnny Slow-Poke? There he was, and he was crying! 'I've lost my puppy!' wailed Johnny."
Connery's reading?
"I've lost my puppy," wailed Johnny. "And I have a butt rash!"
And then we laughed and laughed and laughed.
Then I did the next line.
"The Good Humor Man shook his head sadly and handed Johnny a comforting coconut cone and a tube of Aveeno buttcream."
And then we laughed and laughed and laughed again.
Even mommies are not immune to the occasional ass joke, it seems, especially when goaded on by a toddler in a giggle-fit.