Another Mom

Brennan and I were discussing the holidays at bedtime. I asked him if he had thought at all about what he wanted for Christmas or his upcoming birthday.

"I don't know," he said thoughtfully, "But I do know what I am going to get you for Christmas!"

"You do?" I laughed.

"Yes. I am going to get you another Mom." Brennan said triumphantly.

"What? Another mom?" I have to admit I was worried where this was going and sure it was going to lead to some comment on my mothering skills. It had been a tough week all the way around for us. Let's just say it has not been one of my finer mothering weeks. Chris had been out of town and we all had a big ol' bad case of the grumpies.

"Another Mom!" Brennan laughed.

"Well, what would the other Mommy do?" I asked, hesitantly, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

Brennan thought for a moment. "The other mom would do all the cleaning of the house. All the laundry and all that other stuff. Then, all you would have to do is play with us all day long. You'd like that wouldn't you Momma?"

Yes. I think this Other Mom gift idea has some merit after all.

Pumpkin Carving

The dog ate our pumpkins. It started with him gnawing on them a bit as they rested on our front stoop, but we chastised him and he stopped for a while. The next thing we knew, he had rolled them off the front steps and was using them as giant balls to roll around the front yard.

Then he ate their insides. Happy Halloween!


The boys were not happy. I was even less happy, given that I had shelled out over thirty dollars for the giant beasts of pumpkins. The neighbors, on the other hand, have found it hysterically funny. We live to amuse our neighbors.

I promised the boys I would get more pumpkins so we could do our annual carving. (Damn dog.)

But I was saved from the pumpkin purchase! Our dear friends Danielle and PJ had a second birthday party for their sweet daughter Lexi. And guess what? It was a pumpkin carving, pumpkin decorating, pumpkin smash of a party! Hurray for non-dog eaten, slimed up pumpkins all set to paint, to carve, to dress up.

The boys got right to work.

And now the carved, dressed up pumpkins are safe at home, where we will keep them high on a shelf, away from our pumpkin eating pooch.

Brennan and the Girls

There is something about Brennan. I can't quite put my finger on it. I can't actually describe it. But there is some special thing about Brennan that draws in the girls. He had quite a following in preschool and it seems to have carried over to the kindergarten crowd.

The first week of school, my cousin Nicole texted me to tell me that her best friend's little sister, who is in Brennan's kindergarten class, just announced at dinner that she was in love and his name is Brennan.

The second week, the class was assigned to make a special picture for someone they love. Brennan brought home his picture for me and three other pictures signed with an assortment of girls' names. When I asked Brennan about it, he blushed, and quickly said, "I don't want to talk about it Mom."

And now I have found out that Brennan's lunch table, the special peanut-free lunch table that he has to sit at, is populated with all the girls' in the class. And if it's full and with no room, there are two girls in particular who will "squeeze themselves in to sit next to Brennan."

In addition to having his own lunchtime harem, Brennan told me that there is a special girl at his lunch table that he likes a whole lot. She buys him ice cream after lunch every day. Upon finding out that this little girl has been giving my child money to buy ice cream for the past few weeks, I immediately sent him to school with enough money so he could treat her to a cone.

And that is romance, kindergarten style.

Tech Savvy

When Aidan was around three, he used to beg me to let him play on the computer. He loved the games on all the kiddie websites, but after minutes upon minutes of me having to navigate the computer and the games with him, I started to discourage computer time.

Yes, I am not all that patient when it comes to kid centric computer games.

Griffin has never shown all that much interest in my laptop, but yesterday he asked if he could play on it. Since I was desperate to shower (uninterrupted!), I brought up a website of kid activities, shows and games to get him started. I doubted it would hold him for long, based upon my experience with Aidan at the same age, but I hoped it would buy me some time.

After a few minutes of playing around, Griffin seemed to have the hang of it. Stretched out on my bedroom floor in front of my laptop screen, he switched from games featuring Dora to Diego, Backyardigans to Yo Gabba Gabba. He was a tech wizard! After I got out of the shower, I even had time to run downstairs and throw in load of laundry.

When I returned to my bedroom, Griffin looked up and yelled, "Mom, I can even watch movies on this thing!" Sure enough, he had dialed up an episode of his very favorite show, Franklin.

And he needed not a word of instruction or assistance from me. The third child is scary that way.

Entertaining the Dentist

The boys all had dentist appointments on Wednesday night. Yes, all three boys and me, off to visit the dentist. I am a glutton for punishment.

Aidan made it through his cleaning and inspection without a hitch. Brennan hopped up into the chair next, eager to open wide for some bubble game flavored toothpaste. The dentist noticed Brennan had lost a few teeth and commented on it.

Brennan, speaking with his mouth half wide open replied, "You see, I have this friend whose name is Dr. Dylan and he likes to pull out all of my teeth."

The dentist shot me a look as I laughed and smiled right back at him.

When it was Griffin's turn, he got into the chair, but seemed distracted. The hygienist turned to him and asked him to open wide. He started to, but then while staring right at the hygienist, smiled and busted out singing, "Any way you want it, that's the way I want it, anyway you want it!"

The hygienist and I both burst out laughing. As we wiped tears from our eyes, she looked at me and said, "Journey? That's an interesting choice."

I said, "It's the Glee Journey mash up."

I am not sure she thought that made my kid any cooler, but I totally did.

Fall Perfection

This weekend was the perfect fall weekend. The sun was shining. The trees were full of changing leaves. It was a perfect excuse to head to a farm for picking apples and pumpkins.

The apples were gigantic. (All the better for me to bake apple pies with once, twice, or maybe three times... I have a slight addiction to apple pie in the fall.) We easily filled two huge bags up with apples - more apples than even I, the apple pie lover, am sure what to do with. After we picked many an apple, the boys each picked out a pumpkin to take home. (The same pumpkins that have now been used by Chewy as toys to roll around the front yard. That was money well spent.)

Snapshots of Our Life

"Griffin, do you want another cup of milk?" I ask during dinner with the boys.

"Yes!" Griffin responds.

Before I can get out of my chair, Aidan jumps up and smiles at me. "I can get it for him Mom," Aidan says as he opens the fridge.

"Wow, Aidan, thank you." I reply. "Isn't that so nice of your big brother G?"

Griffin nods with his mouth full of dinner. After he swallows, he turns to Aidan and says, "You sure do fill up my bucket again and again Aidan."

The filling of people's buckets is a concept, based upon a book, that all of my boys learn in preschool. Each of us has a bucket that is filled up with love, acts of kindness or nice deeds from other people. It is one of my favorite lessons learned in preschool and I love that it always makes an imprint on the boys.

It also makes me cry. Alot.

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The boys are obsessed with Harry Potter. Aidan started reading the books over the summer and the boys have been begging to see the movies. Finally, we watched the first Harry Potter movie a few weeks ago.

During the opening scenes, one of the characters yells at Harry that there is NO such thing as magic. All three of my boys gasped and whispered (at the same time) as they shook their heads in denial, "Yes, there is!"

I love that they believe in magic. I hope they never stop.

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Before they left on their camping trip a few weeks ago, Chris told the boys to pick a few things to bring for the six hour car ride to the Canadian wilderness.

Aidan came downstairs with a book and a dictionary.

Chris laughed and told him, "Aidan, you are NOT bringing a dictionary on a camping trip!"

Aidan looked offended and responded, "But I like the dictionary. I like to look up words and read what they mean."

Chris took the dictionary away and sent him back to his room to get his DS.

I have a feeling that all these stories of our parental encouragement of video games over books, homework and dictionaries are really going to come back to haunt us someday.

Kindergarten Justice

A few weeks ago, I asked Brennan how his day had been at school. After telling me he had a great day, he told me he had felt bad for one of his classmates, Matthew, who had not had such a great day.

"Why B? What happened to Matthew?" I asked.

"Mom, Matthew was in the bathroom and one of the other boys didn't know that so they opened up the bathroom door. And Matthew wasn't done yet. So we all saw Matthew in his underwear, Mom!"

"Oh no. What happened?"

"Well, everyone laughed Mom. Everyone!" Brennan took a deep breath and continued, "Except me, Mom. I didn't laugh. Not even a bit."

I managed to stifle my burst of laughter. Sure, he didn't. Yep.

"I am sure that hurt Matthew's feelings. It's not nice to laugh at people like that." I replied.

"I know! So the teacher was not happy at the class."

"I am sure she wasn't."

"Nope. Not happy at all. And then the teacher told us that because we all laughed we had to draw a picture of ourselves and what we look like when we go to the bathroom and show it to Matthew."

I nod head and then stop. Wait. What?

"Your teacher did what?" I asked, uncertain.

"She said we had to draw a picture of ourselves going to the bathroom and show it to Matthew."

My eyes narrowed and focused on Brennan. "Brennan, did that really happen?"

Brennan looked back at me, gazed off into space for a minute and shrugged, "Yeah, I guess I made the last part up. But I did really see Matthew's underwear today Mom."

Up All Night

Griffin has been getting up a lot at night lately. The 2 am calls (read: yelling and screaming) started a few weeks ago and are quickly getting old for the entire family. I feel particularly bad for Brennan who has been forced to come wake Chris and me up nightly to deal with Griffin's middle of the night screaming. (Chris and I used to wake up at the sound of a pin drop when Aidan was a baby. Now, we burrow ourselves under the covers and refuse to let a little thing like a screaming child disturb our rest. We’re tired, okay? So, very, very tired.)

Before bed last night, I decided to have a heart to heart talk with Griffin about the middle of the night disturbances. I explained to him that he was waking the entire family each and every night and it was just unacceptable behavior. He nodded as I spoke, looking as if he was seriously considering everything I said to him.

After a moment, he said, “You know Mom, I know I seem a lot older, but I am actually only three years old. And because I am actually only three years old, I am sometimes going to do things that other three year old kids do, like wake up at night. A lot of my friends wake up at night too. Even Ryan does it!”

And there you have it. The logic of a three year old. I’ve got nothing. We are doomed with this kid.

The Only Child Weekend

While the boys were lost in the Canadian wilderness, Griffin lived the life of an only child. We set up our first adventure - “camping” in Mommy’s room. (The whole camping idea may have been a tactical error on my part because “camping” involved Griffin falling out of bed multiple times a night, Griffin screaming in panic when one of the five bears huddled into bed with us were lost, and a nice, enthusiastic wake up call at the ripe hour of 5:30 am. Camping, obviously, even when done in the comfort of my bedroom, does not involve much sleep.)

Friday night was date night. I told Griffin we would visit Build A Bear and go out to dinner, just the two of us. When we arrived at Build A Bear, we were surprised (and so, very excited) to find out it was Star Wars Night, featuring the launch of the brand new line of Star Wars bears. (I kid you not. I could not have planned this better if I tried.) So before we plucked down a small fortune for some stuffing and fur, Griffin visited with a few store employees dressed as Jedis and a real life, honest to goodness Chewbacca. He even got to pick out the Star Wars theme to play whenever you squeezed his bear’s hand.

Griffin named his bear Skywalker and looked unbearably cute walking through the mall rubbing his cheek up against the bears’ soft fur.

We dined on hamburgers and shared a strawberry milk shake. I tried not to shed a tear when Griffin told me how much he loved me, once, twice and three or more times during dinner. I think the waitress wanted to take him home with her.

On Saturday, my brother Travis and sister in law Lynda had offered to take Griffin to give me some quality time at the spa. (There is nothing like the joy of some quality time at the spa. A facial. A massage. Just a little slice of heaven.) Griffin reveled in the chance to have Uncle Travis and Aunt Lynda all to himself. They are hot commodities in our house, and to have their undivided attention is quite a prize. They spent the day at the zoo, playing with their cat and playing games at home. I don’t think Griffin wanted the day to end.

I know he missed his dad and his brothers. I know I did too. But I think there was a part of Griffin who would whole heartedly take another weekend of the only child lifestyle. I know I would take it again too. Just minus the camping part.

Outward Bound

The boys survived life in the Canadian wilderness. They not only survived, but they thrived embracing the mud, the cold lake and the lack of modern conveniences without a protest. In fact, Aidan remarked to me, "It's weird Mom, but after a day or two you adjust and you think that camp is your home."

They climbed rope courses and did a cat walk on a log suspended two stories tall. (The video of Brennan balancing on a log up in the trees almost gave me a mommy heart attack.) The rock climbed, canoed, and did obstacle courses. One of my favorite stories was of the father/child obstacle course race set up all over the island. They did archery (Brennan's personal favorite), hiked and bush whacked through the wild. They swam in the lake and jumped from platforms 10 feet and 20 feet tall. (I am thankful there is no video of Aidan jumping from 20 feet into the lake. I am not sure I could handle it. On the other hand, I wish there was video of Chris jumping from the 20 foot jump, slipping and turning on his side, and landing a spectacular "back" flop. So spectacular he is black and blued all over from the force of the impact. I have heard there are pictures - of which I must make a mission to hunt down.)

Chris and the boys loved it so much that they will definitely return next year for the Whoville Dads and Kids Pathfinder Weekend, but in addition both boys would like to attend the camp for real during the summer. Pathfinder offers overnight camp for boys ages 7 and up, starting at two weeks and going for the whole summer. A few of Aidan's friends will attend next summer for two weeks and Aidan is desperate to go. He may be ready, but I am not sure I am ready.

The boys did struggle a bit with the lack of, ahem, modern bathroom conveniences. Brennan got home, gave hugs, and then promptly ran to the bathroom with a gleeful, "I have been waiting so long for this!" He then made himself at home in the bathroom for quite some time.

It's the little things you miss the most.

I am not sure how it happened, but when they got out of the car, I swore they each grew at least an inch or so. They looked taller and more mature. It may have just been the four days away, but I swear they grew in both body and in spirit while they were gone.

Daddy Time!

As the boys grow, their interests are turning to activities and sports that are tailor made for time with their Dad. I have held court for years with the boys at dance offs, rock band family marathons and sing alongs (most often to the glee soundtrack, of course). I can manage the impromptu soccer games in the front yard and bike rides around the neighborhood. We all love long walks, hide n' seek, and trips to the playground. But camping or mountain biking; snowboarding or golfing? Not my thing.

It's Daddy time.

It started with Daddy snowboard Sundays. At first, I embraced the Daddy snowboard sundays. It was time alone with Griffin, my baby left at home with me. When the weather turned warm, and the Sundays turned from skiing down hills to riding up them on bikes, I still enjoyed having Griffin all to myself.

This weekend I, once again, have my Griffin all to myself. Chris has taken Aidan and Brennan up to Canada for a camping trip with a group of Whoville dads and their kids. It is our family's first time partaking in an annual Whoville traditional dad and kid camping trip. It happens every year, at the same campsite, and has been occurring for years upon years. The Whoville Dads and kids drive six hours into the Canadian wilderness to Camp Pathfinder, an overnight camp set on an island with no running water, no electricity and no cell phone service. You pack what you can carry in, but you pack enough that you stay warm through the chilly Canadian fall evenings. Hikes, lake swims, zip lines, canoeing, rock walls - it is an outdoor lover's dream.

The boys were delirious over preparations for the trip. Chris was, honestly, if not just as excited as the boys, maybe even more so. Camping is his thing. He did all the shopping, all the preparing, and all the packing. The thought of a weekend spent in the forest with a lake as a shower gives me hives, but my hubbie and boys are over the moon. I am happy enough to share a special weekend at home with my Griffin. (We are spending the weekend "camping" in Mommy's room. The bed is comfy, the temperature warm and it has a working bathroom to boot! Much more my style.)

Until I realized, that soon, very, very soon, Griffin would be off to Camp Pathfinder with them too. Leaving me, all by myself.

It should sound like a dream. There is a part of me that is giddy over the thought of so much alone time. But there is a bigger part of me that is sad at this space. It is just another form of letting go. And I have never been all that good with the letting go.

This winter, we have planned for Griffin to hit the slopes with the clan on their Daddy snowboard sundays. He is overjoyed at the possibility. For me, it will be a day off from my boys and my first small step towards my last baby running with the pack of boys and their Dad. It will be me learning to let go.

B Goes to Kindergarten

Brennan was ready to go to kindergarten. I think he may have even been counting down the days until he could jump onto that big yellow bus, finally able to keep up with the path set by his big brother.

Brennan turned a little hesitant as the bus came round the corner, but when it stopped in front of our driveway, he was ready. Without a so much as a glance, it was time to go to kindergarten.

I had to call his name several times to get him to turn around for a quick picture. And while, yes, I wanted that picture, I also just needed to see his sweet smile before he drove off on that bus.




He did great. I, on the other hand, have had a much more difficult time with this transition. I thought it would be easier the second time around. I had convinced myself that surely, it had to be less of an emotional upheaval. But it isn't. Letting go is never easy.

Brennan returned from school on his first day bursting with stories of his classroom, his new friends and his teachers. We talked most of the late afternoon, in between swim practice and playing outside, about his day. He saved his last story for bedtime.

After I had tucked him into bed, he took a deep breath and told me the teacher had given each of the children in his class a heart sticker to wear for their first day. While they were on the playground after lunch, one of the little girls in Brennan's class lost her heart sticker.

"She was sad Momma so I helped her look for it," He said with a shy smile. "I looked everywhere, but we couldn't find it. She was so sad that when we went in the classroom and she didn't have her sticker, she started to cry. She kept crying and crying and so I gave her my sticker. Then she stopped crying because she felt better."

My heart melted as I watched Brennan take another deep breath full of pride over his story from his day. I told him I could not have been prouder of him. I hugged him to death, kissed him to pieces and just about ate him up with love as my heart burst for my sweet boy. My sweet, kindergartner of a boy.

Kindergarten is lucky to have him.

Marching On and Up

More change for our clan. Today, Aidan started third grade. The entire family bundled up to wait outside in the unseasonably cool temperatures for the big arrival of the school bus. After a quick wave, Aidan was off onto the bus without a care.

So easy, so confident, so different than a mere three years ago.

After Aidan was on the bus, Brennan and I headed to school for his kindergarten screening. He was being tested by his teacher, the very same teacher Aidan had back in the day. (The teacher who so kindly took me aside at my very first Meet the Teacher night to discuss how she had to shut the classroom door each morning to keep Aidan inside the kindergarten classroom while he cried for his life. Good times. Quite a proud mommy moment for me.)

She must have been surprised to see Brennan who was good to go for whatever she had in mind. Not a tear in sight. Kindergarten? Game on. Let’s go!

Only he must have been a little nervous, because a few of the simpler questions gave him pause. After the screening was over, the teacher and Brennan came out of the room to find me waiting in the hall. The teacher smiled and congratulated Brennan on a great job. She then turned to me and said there are just a few things he had trouble with. I waited, certain she would tell me it was his color comprehension or letters, but no.


He apparently could not remember his last name.

Yep.

I turned to Brennan, and said, "Brennan, you KNOW your last name."

Brennan shook his head and replied, “Mom, I honestly have no idea.”

Oh dear Lord. Seriously.

The teacher also remarked that Brennan was a little confused as to the date of his birthday.

I again turned to Brennan and said, slightly exasperated, "Brennan, you know your birthday!"

Brennan shrugged his shoulders, smiled and said hesitantly, "Sometime around Christmas?"

Each child offers their own unique adventure. At least he wasn’t crying.

(Check out the fabulous bedhead on Griffin and Brennan. We rock bedhead in our house and, obviously, are not shy about exhibiting the bedhead gloriousness to the public at large.)

New Spaces and Places

September is a month of transition. The pool closes. Summer activities end. Summer winds down as school winds up. It is a time that reminds me of how far we have come in our journey of parenthood.

The next week will bring us new spaces and places for our boys. Today, Griffin moved up from his preschool classroom, the Bluebirds, to his pre-K classroom, the Orange Bears. I left him in the loving care of the same pre-K teachers, the lovely Miss Laura and Miss Karen, that both Aidan and Brennan had back in the day.

We've done it before this whole pre-K thing. We know the class, the teachers, the routine. Hell, I even have my materials ready to go for the first homework assignment. It's the third time. I've got this. There should be no surprises.

But, of course, I was still surprised that I had tears in my eyes as I left my little G in his big boy class. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. But I was. It felt so final. There is so much growing up going in in our lives, so much moving on, and I am always caught off guard by how bittersweet it feels. My baby Griffin is such a boy.

Tomorrow my first baby, my Aidan, will get on the bus to start his year as a third grader. After we get Aidan off on the bus, I will jump into the car with Brennan to take him to his kindergarten screening. My sweet B, preparing for a year as a kindergartner. I am not sure my heart can take it.

Brennan starts school on Monday. I know he will hop on that bus, confident and excited to set off for his new adventure. He has been counting down the days for months. But I will not be surprised at all, when I, once again, have to hold back tears at how bittersweet it is to see my children move on and move up to new places.

Happy 8 Aidan!

Aidan, today you are eight.

At eight, you are still our budding scientist, our Lego architect and our boy in charge.

You learned how to ride a bike without training wheels this summer and promptly conquered the neighborhood on two wheels. You evolved from a boy terrified of the water to a swim team junkie, competing in relays, backstroke and freestyle with ease. You have fallen in love with golf and enjoy the time with your dad on the course, particularly during your first father-son tournament last month. You started baseball this year and made all of us so proud with how quickly you adapted to a sport you have never played.

This summer was your first ever triathlon. I admit it, I never expected you to finish the race when I saw the crowds of kids ready to compete. I was nervous for you. But you have grown into such a confident boy. Without even a backward glance, you set off running towards the water to swim, then to bike, then to run. I will never forget how proud of you we were when you raced across that finish line with a huge smile on your face. You were spectacular.

You love to read, but particularly like atlases and encyclopedias stuffed with facts about science, space or the world. I constantly find you re-reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, again, again, and well, again. Your favorite television shows are Adventure Camp, Fetch with Ruff Ruffman, Star Wars the Clone Wars and Arthur. You love to play Rock Band, preferring to rock on the guitar, while your brother Brennan accompanies you on drums. You also love games, from Chess to Monopoly to Battleship. But above all, you continue to love anything Legos and anything Star Wars. And any combination of the two is your idea of perfection.

You are a hard worker. Your teachers and coaches are quick to tell me how you will do whatever is asked of you and how you are always one of the first to offer to help. There aren't any words of praise that could make me happier.

You are still my junk food junkie. Your favorite food is pizza. You love brownies and cookies, warm from the oven. I feared you would turn into a pizza log from the sheer number you consumed at the pool over this summer.

You discovered girls this summer or well, they really discovered you. (This was not easy on me and I had to hide many a tear behind big sunglasses as I watched a gaggle of girls chasing you around the pool.) You developed your first crush on a sweet girl named Emily. It was a summer romance of giggles, tag around the pool and deep sighs as Emily talked about, well, anything.

You are a wonderful big brother. You are kind to your younger brothers and are eager to help them or teach them new things. The three of you are inseparable, spending long summer days staging elaborate Lego battles, riding bikes or swimming for hours upon hours.

You are a cuddler and a love. You will still crawl onto my lap, snuggle up next to me or run to me for a hug. You are open with your love for us and never shy away from sharing how much you love me, your dad, or your brothers.

You are becoming a young man before my eyes, but I continue to treasure the little boy I can still see in you. Happy 8th Birthday to my sweet boy.

Aidan in Pictures

Birthday:


One:




Two:




Three:




Four:




Five:

Six:

Seven:

Eight:

Rockets

After you have been with a person for over half your life, it is hard to imagine that you find new reasons to fall in love with them all over again. But you do, again and again. I fall in love with my husband all over again each time I watch him father our children. He's a pretty terrific dad. He is hands on. He is loving. And he is fun.

We had a free summer weekend a few weeks ago. (A rarity indeed!) Chris made the spontaneous decision to take the boys to buy model rockets and build them. After the rockets were all built, launch was set for early the next morning.

Sleepy eyed and barely out of our pajamas, we trudged through a drizzly Sunday morning to the Whoville soccer field to the make shift launch pad.

The launch was a spectacular success:

I never, in a million years, would have conceived of a rainy morning spent exploding and chasing rockets. But it was perfect.

Just another reason to fall in love, all over again, with that sweet husband of mine.

Finding the Words

"Mom, when do I start kindergarten?" Brennan asks me, wide eyed. A question that he has repeated, almost daily, since the summer began.

"Two weeks!" I reply and then continue, "Are you excited for kindergarten?"

"Yes," but as soon as the "yes" escapes his mouth, he buries his head in his pillow and hides his eyes.

"B? Aren't you excited?" He shakes his head and says something I can't quite make out through the muffles.

"What B?"

"What if I am worried?" Brennan manages to get out from a mouth stuffed into a pillow.

"Worried? Are you worried?" I ask with concern.

Brennan nods his head yes, still avoiding my gaze.

"Why are you worried?"

Brennan sticks his head out for a brief second to reply, "That I don't know stuff. That I don't know how to read."

"But they will teach you how to read and Brennan," but before I can continue he shoves his head back into the pillow.

"I forget things and I mix things up and what will they do to me if I mix things up?" He asks with a muffled, scared, sweet voice.

My heart broke. Brennan is our jokester, our kind hearted boy who brings laughter and fun into each day. He is our snuggler, our lover, but I never knew, I never expected, that he was our worrier too.

It is one of those moments that you hope, you pray, that you say the right thing. That somewhere inside of me, I can find the words to bring him comfort and to keep him from his worries. I want him to see possibility. I want him to see opportunity. I do not want him to spend a day worried about the what-ifs or the I can'ts.

After a few moments, I had Brennan look at me and I reminded him of how proud I was of him. I reminded him of the time last week that his bike had broke. He asked me to fix his bike, but I told him I didn't know how to fix it so we would have to wait for Daddy to get home. He spent a half hour in the garage, by himself, and figured out how to fix that bike. The joy, the delight, the pride in his face when he stormed into the house to tell me he fixed his bike, without any help or guidance, was breathtaking.

I told him that is how I know he will be great in kindergarten, because above all, he is a hard worker. He takes the time and effort to figure something out and work hard until it is complete. And all success in kindergarten or anywhere else requires is hard work.

The memory of that day, the day he fixed his bike, brought a true smile to his face. I think it helped him. But my heart, it is still breaking a bit.

Age Smackdown

"Mom, when were you born?" Aidan asked as we snuggled on the couch.

"You mean what year was I born?" I asked.

"Yes. What year were you born?"

"I was born in 1972." I replied.

"1972? Wow!" Aidan exclaims with astonishment. "Did they, like, even have cars back then?"