I just saw a meerkat!

As we headed to the the LL Bean over in  Marlton, NJ,  Madeline excitedly exclaimed that she had just spotted a meerkat.  Bryan did a double take and asked her to repeat what she had said.  I knew instantly what she had said and that it was a statement that was destined to wind up here.

Now why would my kid think she saw an animal that lives out in the plains of Africa?  Well, I like to watch Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet and I subjected my kids to watching it for a few years when the new seasons were coming out.  I want to say it has been at least a year or so since I last saw an episode of that show.  Meerkat Manor is about as close to a soap opera style show as you'll ever find me. (I don't watch talk shows or soap operas, so don't ask me about that cool thing that was just on Oprah or the latest dish on GH.)  

As Bryan and I laughed at Madeline, who is now seeing meerkats running free in the suburbs of New Jersey, she blamed me for the spotting.  Apparently, when you have your children watch educational programming, it is your fault when they think they see things they learned about on TV.  

So what did Madeline see?  I suspect she saw a squirrel, or a chipmunk or some other small furry woodland creature that is native to our area.  I can tell you that she's not going to live the meerkat siting down anytime soon.  On our drive home in a rather bad rain storm I saw a totally drenched squirrel cross the road.  I asked Madeline if he looked like the meerkat she saw earlier.  She's wasn't amused, but Bryan and I were.