my charming son…

… at one vendor booth my son became so entranced with this CD that he stood by the stereo while it was playing and listened to an entire 5 decades of the rosary. As we started to walk away, Vinny Flynn himself gave him a free copy. Score.

At another booth my son picked up a children’s book and read it while I was talking to some friends. I turned around and he was chatting up the author of the book. We left a free signed copy. Score.

I tried to talk him to going over to the Tan Publishing booth and pick up that nice leather bound Douay Rheims Bible and start reading it, but my son gave me the stink eye and said I was on my own there. So I asked the guy from Tan for a free sample myself. Yeah… not so much. I told him I’d be back if he changed his mind. No score.

At another booth my son scored a handful of holy cards and some book marks. For reciting the Hail Mary in Latin he got a rosary from these lovely ladies.

Score so far; Tom-4, Mom-0

I decided my son was too cute and I needed to rid the competition if I wanted a chance at scoring free goodies. That’s when I came up with the brilliant idea to drop him off at Religious Row… the row of vendors devoted to various religious communities.

The first group was some very charming seminaries. When they told me he was too young for seminary I wasn’t dissuaded. My son, ever the charmer, still managed to score a baseball cap with “JMJ” on it and a bag of candy. He asked the guys if it was true priests had super powers to kill demons and one responded “We can call down Holy Fire!” my son gasped “Cool. But do you know karate?” As it just so happened one of them did. My son was thoroughly smitten with the lot of them.

The next booth was the local Capuchin Franciscan’s community. When I thrust my son at them and said “Here’s your new novice” they all thought I was funny but told me to come back in 10 years. My son, not so quick to give up, looked one monk dead and the eye and said “the seminarians have candy and hats; what do you have?”.

I swear I don’t know where he gets it from.