Founding Fathers

...this conversation took place between me and adam a couple of nights ago just as we had snuggled into bed...

adam: why are there so many kids named madison?

me: i know. you'd think there'd be more kids named lincoln. how come you never see that name on some silly little blond-haired girl? what did james madison ever do for this country?

adam: i'm pretty sure he's the one who wrote the bill of rights.

me: oh.

...silence between us for a good minute...adam wiggles around in bed...i begin to zone out as i'm prone to do whenever i'm too long in the horizontal position...

adam: i still don't get it.

me: didn't madison own slaves? all of these people are naming their little children after a slave owner.

adam: i'm sure that's why they're doing it.

...silence again...and i can't help wondering why there aren't any kids named lincoln, or abe, in our daughter's class at school, but there are three madisons...sure there's a kennedy, but the class roster is sorely lacking in other presidential names...

adam: how did that ever get started? who thought one day out of the blue that madison was a good name for anybody?

me: seriously, why aren't there more kids named franklin?

...silence...

adam: he wasn't president, you know.