My oldest son, age 5 & 3/4, impresses people often with his advanced vocabulary. He’s got words, man, and he’s not afraid to use them. But the maturity to make sense all the time, that’s another thing. Recently he said a few things to me that made me burst out laughing–yes, in front of him–I know I’m a bad Mommy for doing that. But he handled it well both times.

For instance, last week I walked down the alley behind our house to collect him from a friend’s backyard. It was dinner time. He was a little slow in coming, so I challenged him to a race. To his amazement, I actually took off running (it’s only four houses away). I heard him yelling, “Stop, Mommy. Stop running!” Yes, I beat him home, but at least he was hurrying behind me (mission accomplished). When we stopped in the driveway, he exclaimed, “Mommy, why were you running? Grown-ups aren’t supposed to run!” And he meant it! He was truly amazed that I could and would try to beat him in a footrace. I used to fake it, pretending to run, but would always let him catch up. Oh, the price of growing up!

Today I met a friend for coffee while the kids stayed with Nana, a substitute grandmother we are blessed to have nearby. On our way home, Nate asked me who I had been talking to. I told him it was a friend he didn’t know, because I’d only met her recently. He said, in this incredulous voice, “You can make new friends?” As though that were an impossibility. “Uh, yeah, Mommy can make new friends. Happens quite a lot, actually. Thanks!”