Conversations with my kids I don't want to forget
When my oldest son was two years old, my friend Ellen came for a visit. We were on our way back from the Grand Canyon, driving down I-17 outside of Flagstaff, when his little voice piped up from the back seat…
“Mommy, you’re going to cry.”
“Why am I going to cry dear?”
“Because you’re going to be sad.”
“Why am I going to be sad?”
“Because I’m going to get a job”
“Oh, I see, and why will that make me sad?”
“Because I won’t be home anymore.”
“You’re right that will make me sad. But I’ll be ok. What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to drive a garbage truck.”
“That sounds like fun. What are you going to do with all the money you make?”
“Spend it all.”
“Are you going to share it with Mommy?”
“No! It’s my money. You’re going to be sad.”
“You’re right, I’ll be sad and I will miss you. But that's ok, I’ll be glad you’ll have a job.”
At the time I was pregnant with my second child. My firstborn decided that he wanted sister. He talked a lot about the “baby girl in Mommy’s Belly”. We were worried about his reaction when we found out that he was going to be a brother. We didn’t need to. He said, “That’s ok Mommy, you can have a boy in your belly, and I can have a girl in mine.” It took a while to convince him that there was no girl in his belly! Fortunately he was so happy with his brother; there has been no mention of a sister since.
I have to tell on my youngest too. Earlier this year, I noticed that he was eating more than usual at mealtimes. When I asked him about it, he said he was eating a lot on purpose…
“Why do you want to eat so much?” I asked.
“So that I get bigger really fast.” He replied.
“Why do you want to so grow fast?”
“So I can drive.”
“Why do you want to drive?”
“So I can go out to eat whenever I want!”
Eating out is one of his favorite things to do and this was not the first time he made the connection with the ability to drive and being able to go out to eat whenever he wants. Before he started school, we would walk around the neighborhood each morning after dropping his brother off at school. Along our route was an old red car for sale. One day he informed me that he wanted the car for his birthday.
I had to say, “You can’t drive a car, you’re too short to reach the pedals”.
He had it all figured out. “TJ will help me drive it.”
“How will that work?”
“He can work the pedals and I can steer.”
“But you can’t see out the windshield.”
“I’ll sit in my car seat.”
“What makes you think that TJ will be willing to help you drive?”
“I’ll share it with him; it will be for both of us.”
“Why do you want to drive already? You’re only 3.”
“So I can go out to eat whenever I want!”
