From the mouth of Kael

You know how when you see someone all the time you don't really see them change? Whenever people see Kael they always comment on how he looks and acts like a boy now, instead of a little boy or a toddler. Sure, he's four, but in the grand scheme of life, four is really just one year more than three, and at three he was still fully embracing toddlerhood. How much difference can one year really make?

Well, let me tell you: A lot.

Some of the stuff he says crack me up. They are so funny and insightful, and reminds me of how wonderfully simple life is to a 4 year old. Like when he wondered what it would be like to sleep on clouds because that cloud right there looks really soft and fluffy. Or when he asked if ghosts knew they were scary, if they meant to scare people, and that maybe if they stopped saying "boo" all the time, more people would play with them.

And then there's the stuff he says that comes back to bite me on the a$$. Like when I asked him to please hurry up and put on his shoes, what's taking him so long?? And he responded with a "Mom, you have to learn to be patient." Or when I don't allow him to do something and he tells me "Mom, you're not using your listening ears. You better start listening or you're going to get in trouble. I said I wanted xyz."

We've been late to school the past 2 weeks. I'm convinced we live in a black-hole of time that prevents us, making it impossible even, to leave the house before or by 8:00am. I find myself pulling out of the garage between 8:06am and 8:08am -- that's way too late. I'll never make it to music time (8:15am) . Heck, I'll be happy to get there before Kael's class is settled into storytime. Of course the year that we move him to Fairmont is the year that the city started construction on building an overpass over the railroad tracks. It's quite an involved project that's supposed to be completed May of 2008. That's what the sign board reads. In reality we all know it'll be late summer/early fall before they are done. And all the construction is at the ONE intersection that I need to cross. My other alternative is to drive completely around and behind where I need to go and loop back around to get to school the back way. This is what I'm doing. However, this requires that I stay on the highway to hell (91) a bit longer.

When you couple the road woes I face with trying to get Kael to eat breakfast in 20 minutes -- it's a losing battle. I don't think he's EVER finished a meal in 20 minutes. Not even in 40 minutes. I used to be able to get him to pick up the pace a bit by telling him that if he doesn't eat faster, we're going to be late to school. I tried that tactic yesterday. And this is what he said (in a very world-weary tone of voice that I would expect from him when he's in his teens, not when he's 4): "Mom (a huge sigh), we're always late to school." (Add the eye roll and head shake.) And he turned around to continue eating his Kix, one ball at a time.

It was that moment that he truly turned four to me.