growing up fast

This picture was taken 4 years ago. It is me with my oldest son, Malcolm. 

This little guy is going to be eight years old soon and each day he continues to amaze me. 

He's so very bright. I know, I know, every parent thinks that their child is smart. But what I mean is that he knows so much more about the way the world works compared to me at that age. He has this insatiable curiosity that is unmatched (except maybe by his father) and it serves him very well. He's so different from me in that sense.

We do share a sense of humour though. Right now he's all about the potty humour but in general he's pretty funny and laughs often too. This morning he took it upon himself to wrap the sprayer at the kitchen sink with elastics so that the button would stay in the 'on' position. My unsuspecting husband turned the tap on to pour himself a glass of water before heading to work and got sprayed!! Hilarious (because it wasn't me).

Lately I've been teasing Malcolm about the girls in his class. It amazes me how young girls start being interested in boys. My son is aware of girls, but really just wants to play sports. It's not that he's awkward and doesn't socialize with girls, it's just that they're not on his radar in that way ...yet. 

There are only about 4 or 5 boys in Malcolm's class so the odds are pretty good for him when he does become interested. And already a few little girls have crushes on him. He's learning the intricacies of relationships and the language that goes with them. One day he told me that a girl in his class broke up with him. My ears perked up and I asked him to elaborate. He said that she didn't love him anymore and that meant she broke up with him. I explained that you both have to love each other to be dating and break it off.

"Oh" he said.

I love the innocence of it all. And of course I love to tease him about it too. When I do, he just nervously smiles and says: "Ew, gross." And I take comfort in his response because before long, this won't be the case and I'm very aware of how temporary this all is.

When I kiss this little guy goodbye in the morning and send him on his way to school, I worry that it will be the day that he becomes embarrassed by his mom kissing him in front of his friends. But for now, he leans in and turns his cheek to me, looking for that embrace.
And I am very thankful for that moment each day - for as long as I'm allowed to have it.