Funerals and Three Year Olds

My mom, Pearson, and I went to a funeral yesterday. I tried to prepare Pearson, as much as possible, about what he was going to see and hear at the funeral. He knew that I had gone to visit my Aunt Lula Lee in the hospital on Sunday and I had told him that she was very sick. I had also told him Tuesday morning that she had died and that we were going to go to her funeral. He asked me a few questions and I answered them as best I could. I felt he was as prepared as a three year old could be to go to a funeral. We arrived at the church about an hour early and I was letting Pearson play out front to let him get all his "wiggles" out. He decided he needed to go to the bathroom. This church was very small, the only way I knew to get to the bathroom was to walk from the back of the church to the front and out a side door. As we were starting to do this, I noticed they had brought the casket to the front of the church for friends to view my sweet aunt. I stopped, bent down to Pearson's eye level and told him, "They have already brought the casket in and Aunt Lula Lee is already at the front. We are going to have to walk right by her. Please do not say anything while we are in the church. If you have any questions, do not ask them until we get to the bathroom." He said he would be quiet. We started down the isle as quickly as we could, because I knew he was going to belt out an inappropriate question at any moment. Just as we reached the door to leave the room, Pearson whispered, "Mom, I have a question." I said, "Okay, wait till we get to the bathroom." When we reached the bathroom, I stooped down again and asked him what his question was. I was waiting for a very profound question, one that would require me to think back on all my biblical and parenting knowledge to create a perfect, age-appropriate answer. Pearson whispered, "Mom, do you like baby alligators and snakes?"