Are Dwarfs Real?

So this is my first attempt to blog and I figure I will dive right in with a little story that happened just last night. The brain of a child is so fascinating the way it just searches for new knowledge and the way it strives to figure out the world around it.

So last night I had a very interesting conversation with my 4 year old. Out of nowhere he asks me "Mommy, are Dwarfs real?" I paused for a second and I am sure gave him an odd look. Perhaps his question came from our recent trip to Disney and his first encounter with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but who really knows. The rest of the conversation went something like this.

ME: "Well yes they are buddy?"
HIM: "Well where do they live, in St. Louis?"
Now this threw me for a loop. St. Louis? Now where in the world would he get that?

ME: "I am sure some dwarfs live in St. Louis but there are dwarfs right here in Kansas City too.
HIM: "No Mommy, you are wrong. I have never seen any tiny villages here in Kansas City so they must live in St. Louis"
Now I really had to fight back the laughter with this comment. I can see the picture in his mind now. A little tiny village full of tiny people hustling about. He is right. He has never seen a tiny village here in Kansas City.

ME: "No dear. Dwarfs are just people who are small. They live in houses just like ours."
HIM: "Well I have never seen tiny houses in Kansas City either and that can't be right because they are too small to live in regular houses. How would they reach the top of the refrigerator or the tall cupboards?"
Very good question if you ask me? I am sure it is one that lots of people thought about before shows like Little People Big World and the Little Couple.

ME: "I promise that they live in regular houses. Dwarfs are just small people, like your little sisters size but they are adults not children."
Now I know this is not very accurate but I wanted him to get the idea.

HIM (fighting back the tears): "NO I don't want Sami to be a dwarf!!"
OK so after reassuring him that his sister was just a baby and not a dwarf and showing him some clips from the TLC programs I mentioned above, he looks up at me and says "Mommy, I have still never seen tiny houses in Kansas City. You take me to see them sometime OK?" and with that he walked away. Good thing he cannot for the life of him say the word "Dwarf" correctly, because I promise you sometime, someplace when I have long forgotten about this conversation, we will see a dwarf (which sounds something like wadoorf when he says it) and he will say "LOOK MOMMY, A DWARF IN KANSAS CITY" in his very loud Tanner voice and if everyone around knew what he said I would be mortified but instead I can smile and remember
our odd little conversation about the subject.