Night Walks

Z turns the sweet on when he's alone with you. The loud, boisterous, attention-seeking jabs subside and he becomes contemplative, charming and curious. When he asks for alone time with me, I try to make it happen so I can see this side of him. He wanted to take a walk just with me after dinner even though the sun was only an inch from being down. I told him I had to give A a bath and put her to bed first. And he waited patiently all the while.

We walked around the long J that our street makes, taking note of the sound of crickets and katydids that we didn't hear the last time we took a night walk to look for lightening bugs. We decided the lightening bugs had gone hibernating and the crickets took their place. I love the sound of August. We caught sight of the first star in the sky and made a wish. It didn't take long for Z to share it, even though he worried a little it might not come true. He can't keep any secrets. (I can't ever tell him what's inside the presents I buy for his friends.) He's already planning his Christmas and birthday gift list and he wished for a trampoline. A couple days ago, he decided he wanted the small circular trampoline you can fit in the basement. Today, that has graduated to a giant trampoline that would go in the back yard. I'm not sure how generous Santa will be able to be this year though.

Further along on the walk he asked "will I still live with you when I'm 21?" I said "yes, you'll be in college and will come home during the summer and for Christmas break." He said "how old are you?" I said 36. "And you'll stay 36 when I'm in college?" he asked. Ha, ha, I only wish that was how it worked. He said "Oh, that's right, you're getting older too, but not growing any bigger, right?" He has always had trouble with the concept that adults have birthdays and get older, but don't grow taller every year like kids do. He doesn't understand how Papa can be older than Daddy when Daddy is taller than Papa. Or how he is bigger than Owen but Owen is older. We have this discussion a lot. I love the mysterious ways a child's mind unravels concepts like this. How they get stuck on learning some basic ideas, and fly through an understanding of many more complex issues. And I especially like the concept of me staying 36 until he goes off to college. :o)