Occasionally, I get the opportunity to take just one kiddo out with me to run an errand. Tonight, I got to take my 4 year old son with me to gas up the van and go to the grocery store.
What I love most about these times is that I get to hear what they are thinking, right at that moment. During the car ride, we got to have a great discussion about the Army. His favorite movie right now is The Iron Giant (which I HIGHLY recommend, by the way!!). There are some scenes that have soldiers in them. He was asking me about the Army today.
"Mom, are there Armies here?"
"Yeah, buddy. There are Armies in every country."
Gasp. "IN EVERY COUNTRY?!?!?! Wow!!"
After this, we were at the store. He chose to ride in the Rocket grocery cart, and we raced through space while grabbing our milk, cheese, etc and having a quick conversation about why we don't need any "space donuts" this trip. While we were checking out, he asked if he could "yell" into the cashier's microphone. On the way out, he attempted to grab it. Almost. Better luck next time, Buddy.
He helped me carry the butter to the car. He took great pride in this.
After taking a moment to stare at the fire truck we passed, we were back to the "Armies."
"What do Armies do? Do they point their guns and yell?"
"Well, Buddy, Armies protect us." (At this point, I try to give a brief explanation of the different branches and call them by name, and "military" as a group. This is, of course, for Devil Dog Daddy, who surely would NOT want to be grouped in with the "Armies"!!) "They only point their guns in wars."
"What's a war?"
Oh boy.
Pause.
"Moooom....."
"Well, a war is...a war is when people aren't getting along. It's a fight. When people aren't getting along and aren't using their words. It's a fight." Not bad for a pacifist, if I do say so myself!
"Oh. Okay. Do the Armies (sigh) have guns or swords?"
"Both, Buddy!" (Apparently, this is the coolest thing EVER.)
"So, they use their guns and swords and arrest us?"
"No, Buddy. Only when someone does something bad."
"On bad people?"
Okay. I did have to get a bit hippie on him here. "No, not bad people. People who choose to do bad THINGS."
"What about people who do good things?"
"Well, they tell us thank you when we do good things."
"Okay, Mom. Let's sing."
We sang some of his favorite punk rock songs and recited some lines from his favorite movie (that, of course, I messed up. Great job, Mom.) until we got home.
I make sure that I spend a few minutes of special time each day with each of my kiddos. But, these moments, where it's just me and one of my special babies, are amazing.
As frustrating as it can get sometimes, I love being a Mommy.
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