A stressed-out mother walked into the downtown welfare office, trailed by a massive flock of fifteen rowdy children.
The caseworker’s eyes went wide. “Wow,” she gasped. “Are they all yours?”
“Every single one of them,” the mother sighed. Turning to the chaotic crowd, she barked, “Sit down, Leroy!” Instantly, all fifteen children scrambled into chairs and sat perfectly still.
The caseworker smiled, impressed. “Well, let’s get you signed up. I’ll need all their names for the paperwork. Who is your oldest?”
“That’s Leroy,” the mother said.
“Okay, and the next one?”
“This one is also Leroy.”
The caseworker paused, raised an eyebrow, and continued down the line. To her absolute bewilderment, every single boy was named Leroy, and the oldest girl was named Leighroy.
“Alright, I’m definitely seeing a pattern here,” the caseworker interrupted, putting her pen down. “Are you telling me all fifteen of your children are named Leroy?”
“Oh, absolutely,” the mother replied proudly. “It’s the smartest parenting hack I ever came up with. When it’s time to wake them up for school, I just yell ‘Leroy!’ When dinner is ready, I yell ‘Leroy!’ and they all come running. If someone is about to sprint into traffic, I shout ‘Leroy!’ and they all freeze. It saves me so much time.”
The caseworker thought about it for a moment, scratching her head. “I suppose that makes sense for the group… but what happens if you want to call just one specific child to come to you?”
The mother smiled warmly and replied:
“Oh, that’s easy. Then I just call them by their last names.”
