There Are Dolphins in Russia?

If you ask Aiden the above question, you will get a resounding "yes" out of him. About a month or so ago, Aiden started talking about "Russian Dolphins". Russian Dolphins??? Where had my child come up with the idea that these warm water-loving animals...

could live in a bitterly cold place like this...


I began to think that maybe he had heard it on an episode of "Go Diego Go" or something. I could just see it...a poor helpless dolphin, lost in the cold, icy waters off the Russian coast. Diego and his sister, Alicia, hop into their rescue-pack-turned-ice-breaker-ship & sail to the rescue of the feeble dolphin (all while singing the "Al Rescate" song). Once they find him, they whisk him back to the safety of the warm waters of the Caribbean. Then, they answer a few questions about dolphins & put a picture of one in their field journal. The End!!! Sounds like an awesome episode to me...23 1/2 minutes of pure bliss for mothers across America who just got to take a shower thanks to a little dolphin to took a wrong turn at the gulf stream!!! Wahoo!

So, I asked Aiden if Diego had told him about "Russian Dolphins". He looked at me kind of funny and then replied, "No...Sister Mill told me 'bout them!"

"Sister Mill" (or Sister DeMill, as the non-three-year-olds in the ward call her) is one of Aiden's Sunbeam teachers at church. Aiden pretty much thinks she is the greatest thing since sliced bread (which, by the way, where did that saying come from? It's kind of weird. I can think of lots of things greater than sliced bread. But, I digress... Just know that Aiden pretty much worships "Sister Mill"!).

So, you ask, why was "Sister Mill" teaching about "Russian Dolphins"? Well apparently, a while back, Sister DeMill had to bring something to church that described herself. According to Aiden, she brought a "Russian Dolphin". Turns out, the "Russian Dolphin" is really one of these things...


A Russian nesting doll. Rumor has it that Aiden took a liking to the doll that day & wanted to play with it the whole time...but he refused to call it a "doll". How could a big, strong, masculine man like Aiden play with a doll? So, to keep up his "manly image", he decided to change the word "doll" to "dolphin". Somehow that made it more masculine in his mind. Silly boy!

Since then, every time Aiden has gone to Primary, the first thing he says to "Sister Mill" is, "Where's your Russian Dolphin?". So, a few weeks ago, "Sister Mill" came to our house and brought Aiden one of his very own...

How sweet is that? Aiden loves it and plays with it all the time! Thank you "Sister Mill"! You are the best!

So, the next time all of you are asked if there are dolphins in Russia (because I know this is a topic that comes up often in normal conversation), you'll know the answer is yes...just maybe not the kind most people would think of! --Lindsay