Conversation With An 8-Year-Old: Old Timey Edition

J: Mom, what are 80s?

Me: What?

J: What are the 80s?

Me [suppressing a laugh]: well, the 80s are years. What year is it now?

J: 2011.

Me: and what year was it last year?

J: 2010.

Me: Right. So, if you count backwards, eventually you get to 2000, right?

J: Yeah ...

Me: So before that it was the 1900s. Like, the one thousand nine hundreds. Because one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine comes before two thousand, right?

J: Yeah.

Me: So, there were the 1990s – the 90s – and before that the 80s, the 70s, the 60s, the 50s, the 40s –

J: But were you in the 80s?

Me: Yes.

J [gives me a huge hug]

Me: What’s that for?

J: It’s your year – it’s so cool you were alive in a cool time!

Me: What do you mean?

J: Like, “the 80s!” You know. Not like “two thousand eleven”. That’s not cool. The Eighties!

Me: But I was born in the 70s.

J [with eyes like saucers]: really?!

Me: Yep, 1975.

J: That’s so awesome. “The Seventies.” Like, cowboy times.

Me: What?

J: You know, back when there were cowboys. And, like, sheriffs. And six shooter guns.

A: And AK-47s.

J: Yeah, and AK-47s.

Me: Yeah, those were some pretty wild times.