What To Do With a Cow

Sometimes during dinner or dishes Eric will pitch the kids math story problems, something my dad used do to me in the wintertime.  (e.g., If you have four calves, how many ears and tails would there be?  As I grew older, I had to figure in frostbite for a few unlucky ones, etc.)

The other day Eric asked Adam how many legs there would be if he had two cows.  Adam was stumped and started guessing wildly:  "Nineteen?"

I intervened and popped some fingers up for him to count:  "Okay, Adam, here's one cow, okay?  One, two, three, four," I counted out.  He watched.  "Now," I said.  "What should we do with the other cow?"

He thought for awhile, and then finally shrugged.  "Milk it?"