Groundhog Schmoundhog

"Hey, Ian. You know what today is?"

"Huh?"

"Today? Do you know what it is?"

"I'm tired."

"OK. Well, today is Groundhog Day!" I'm very excited about this, clearly more than he is. I dislike winter, and any faux holiday involving a glorified rodent predicting the weather, hopefully less of the winter variety, is fine by me.

"Do you know what a groundhog is, Ian?"

"Nooooo." He sticks his thumb in his mouth and his walk becomes a little hobbled by the fact that one of his arms is now attached to his face.

I launch into my highly untechnical explanation. "It's like a little dog who lives inside the ground. On Groundhog Day, he comes out of his hole to look for his shadow." I watch Ian for signs of interest. Surely, animals coming out of holes is interesting to a boy, right?

Ian releases the thumb. "Oh. When does he come out of his hole?"

I try to remember the movie. He comes out after Bill Murray shows up with the satellite truck and hits on Andie Macdowell a few times.

"Today, sometime," I say.

Ian is scanning the park. "Mom, I can't see him."

"Well, he'll be here. And if he sees his shadow, it means 6 more weeks of winter."

"Why?"

"Because it does. That's just what it means."

Ian puts his thumb back in his mouth. If nobody was looking, I think I'd do the same. At least until we hear from the rodent.