“Kazakhstan! That’s where Dad got me an egg surprise!”

Yep, our three year old is an expat kid. And a magnetic world puzzle map is my opinion the perfect expat kid present.

Eventually when I have time it’ll be hung on a wall. And when I have even more time I will put together some cutouts of the little faces of his little friends; I envision him placing them atop the various countries in which they’re scattered, and moving them as transfer seasons come and go.

For now, we just talk about his friends and where in the world they all are.  As we put together the puzzle, Flynn wonders if M and A get tired of eating bananas (Dominican Republic). He hopes his friend L has his own pony (Turkmenistan).  He thinks R and H are pretty lucky to be moving to the place with the big gorilla (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

And he wonders why Mexico is represented by a snake. He’s never seen a snake in Mexico.  Me neither, I tell him. What sort of picture would he recommend instead? “Maybe a pinata,” he says. “No, not a pinata. A churro.” I agree.