Saci Mommy?

My 3 year old is always full of wisdom. He surprised me this morning with the solution to my broken toe problem.

He had just strolled out of his room after waking up.  Maybe it came to him in a dream. Upon seeing me in the living room, Luka told me, plain and simple, that he knew how to fix my foot.  "Mommy, you need to just cut off that leg".  Well that sure is an interesting solution.  He continued, "You can hop around on one foot and be like Saci Perere".

Ok, I now I get where it came from!  Saci (pronounced Saucy) Perere is a very traditional character in Brazilian folklore. Every preschool in Rio de Janiero tells Saci Perere stories. My In-laws even have a Saci Perere magnet on their fridge.

Saci Perere is a little prankster. He has a magic cap and pipe and can disappear and reappear.  He doesn't do anything serious but will pull any sort of little annoying prank.  The little guy was born with one leg and hops around like a pro.  I think that is where Luka's 3 year old logic comes in.

I almost forgot, he has a magic cap and a pipe.  It's funny how in Brazil the story is about a one legged prankster, who wears a smelly cap, and smokes a pipe.  Maybe he's Paul Bunyan's 2nd cousin twice removed!

Here's the wikipedia info on Saci:

An incorrigible prankster, the Saci will not cause major harm, but there is no little harm that he won't do. He will hide children's toys, set farm animals loose, tease dogs, and curse chicken eggs preventing them from hatching. In the kitchen, the Saci would spill all salt, sour the milk, burn the bean stew, and drop flies into the soup. If a popcorn kernel fails to pop, it is because the Saci cursed it. Given half a chance, he will dull the seamstress's needles, hide her thimbles, and tangle her sewing threads. If he sees a nail lying on the ground, he will turn it with the point up. In short, anything that goes wrong — in the house, or outside it — may be confidently blamed on the Saci. For more check out: Wikipedia


No worries though, I informed Luka that I won't be cutting off my leg anytime soon. I'm kind of attached.  ohhhh, bad one Rachel