I don't wanna grow up

It was late enough at night, and I went to check on the boys because there was still some quiet murmuring from their room.  When I arrived, it turns out there were quiet tears from Erick.

"I don't want to grow up, Mommy.  I want to stay five," he said.

"Honey, where is this coming from?  Why are you so upset?"

"We are practicing for graduation, and we sing about being so small and so strong,"  he sobbed.  "I wanna stay five forever!"

There is a pause.  I am not sure what to say.

Erick continues, tearfully, "The kindergartners just stay in a little room, all day.  I don't wanna get older.  Then I have to go to kindergarten.  And then big school.  And then college!"  Deep sob and breath, "And I don't even know what college is!"

I suppressed my laughter at this point, despite the obvious severity of the the tragic realization of aging in my son's life.

"Oh, Erick.  It will be okay.  College is where mommy goes now.  There are so many things to look forward to as you get older.  But you do not need to get old too quickly.  Let's take it one step at a time.  Just remember to be a kid for a while."

"Mommy, I don't want to leave.  I just want to stay here with you and Daddy."

Hmmmmmm, we hadn't really planned on that.  You five and us maybe seventy-five--not exactly ideal.  Life would not be what you expected.  "Erick, our mommies and daddies let us go to college, and then we met each other.  And then we got married.  Now we have you and your brother.  We wouldn't have you if we didn't go to college.  These are the things you can look forward to.  It will be okay."

Two days later.......

Erick is talking about kindergarten.

"So, Erick, you're okay with going to kindergarten?"  I asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay.  I can go to college, too,"  he replied.

"Good,"  I thought, "but you don't even know what college is."

Looking out for Mom

Erick is by far my sensitive one.  He is a people pleaser, too.  And he looks out for me.

The poor little fella was sick this week, and I probably gave it to him.  The good ol' 24 hour stomach flu.  He was miserable.  He does not like to throw up--but most people don't.  I wasn't worried about getting sick, since I already had it, but Erick doesn't understand how the whole viral thing works yet.

As I got close to give him a kiss and make sure he was okay as he lay uncomfortably snuggled under a blanket on the couch, he simply cried and said, "Mommy, I don't want you close to me."

I was crushed for a moment.  My poor, sick son didn't want his mom.  "Why not, honey.  What's wrong?"

"I just don't want you to get my cold."

Thanks for looking out for me, Erick, but you should know--even if I hadn't been sick already--wild horses can't keep mommy away from her sick child.  Let the world off your shoulders, babe.  Mommy will be okay.  Let me help you be okay, too.

Crack

We have had a mixture of cold weather, warmer weather, ice, rain and snow here.  Today it is sunny, but still cold enough for the snow to stick around.

Erick informed me, "Mom, the snow is so hard when you step on it crack comes out of it."

I don't think Erick has a good understanding of what crack is.

First Snow Day

My boys had their first "snow day" today, but my school only had a delay.  That meant Daddy got to stay home from work with the boys.  Erick woke up, saw me,

"Hi, mommy,"

and proceeded downstairs.  He remained oblivious to the crumpled mess of covers hiding his sleeping father.

A while later I informed Erick I needed to leave for school.  He was still in his pajamas and had not eaten breakfast.  Not to mention I was clearly leaving without him and Blake in the car with me headed to preschool.  Erick remained unaware his preschool was closed and Daddy was home.

He looked at me with a slight amount of panic and said, "But Mommy if you leave we will have to walk all the way to preschool or drive there.  And we don't have a GPS.  How will we get there?"

Somehow or another Erick has become fixated on a GPS getting him anywhere when he thinks he may need to get somewhere alone.  He knows the way to his preschool.  Trust me.  He tells me when I take a different route or if we drive anywhere near the preschool on an off day.  He does not need a GPS.  And why my five-year-old thinks he is taking a car anywhere is beyond me.  He knows he doesn't know how to drive, either; he has told me so.

I told Erick he would need to do his best to find his way.  He of course did not find this answer acceptable.  So I took his hand, led him upstairs to the pile of blankets and helped him find his Dad.  Snow Day, buddy.  It's a "stay at home day" with your Dad. 

Enjoy your first snow day.

Weekend wonderings: Girls

One reason for this blog was to keep track of things I will most likely forget.  Something came to my mind this week of a moment I want to remember.

It was summer.  Erick was three and the two of us were sitting in the inflatable pool together while Blake napped.  Always the conversationalist, Erick said, "Mommy, let's talk."

"Okay.  What do you want to talk about?"  (He's three, how deep could this be).

"Let's talk about girls."

Gulp.  Smile.  He's three.  Again how deep could this be.  "And what about girls do you want to talk about?"

"Let's talk about the girls at your work, Mommy."

"Okay."  I'm pretty sure I can handle this one.

I still doubt the conversations with my boys about girls will continue to be that open and that easy.  At least he knows he can talk to his mom about girls.

Suck up

Kids of course love anything with a cartoon character on it--including food.  So on a recent trip to the store I gave in and let the boys pick the Sponge Bob yogurt that comes in the squeeze pouch.  Mind you, they are perfectly content to eat regular yogurt from a cup, but "the kids at preschool eat this yogurt."  Today their Dad put out the tubes of yogurt with their lunch.

Erick said, "Look, Blake!  We get to eat a suck up with lunch!"

I don't think they are called "suck ups," but for the rest of lunch the yogurt was a Sponge Bob Suck Up, and we all knew what we were talking about.