Beleaf it on not

As Sam was suiting up at his cubby to leave the child care centre last night, he was singing a rock song under his breath. The refrain “kids these dayyyys” was all I could make out, and it was unfamiliar. “What song is that?” I asked. He grinned shyly and said it was something he’d made up, his own song. It sounded pretty good. “It’s a maple leaf song,” he quickly added. Maple leaf? “What’s that mean? It’s an anthem? Something about Canada?” He chuckled about how far off the mark I was and simply restated the obvious, “It’s a maple leaf song.” Blank stare from Mom. “You know,” he says, filling in the blanks. “I made it up. It isn’t real. It’s maple leaf.” Ahhhhh, now I get it. “You made it up? So it’s make believe? “Oh, right. Ya, that. Make believe.” I think I have a new favourite phrase for pretending. “Let’s maple leaf that it’s pioneer times.”