For everything my son's accomplished, I've been so proud. When I found out I was pregnant, I was proud of him for growing arms and legs. I've been proud of his walking, talking, helping, sharing, being sweet, being smart... everything he's done has been awesome. As much as I miss my tiny, cuddly little baby, I love my big boy. But there's something I'd like to stay the same... His innocent honesty when it comes to girls.
The other day we were getting ready to go to his friend Taylor's birthday party. I told him where we where going and who we'd be seeing. His response was, "I see Taylor... I kiss Taylor." It was adorable, and being that they're both 2, completely innocent and sweet. The thing is, it made me realize that he won't always be so up-front with me. There'll come a time when he stops telling me about girls. He'll be cool, then... too cool to tell his mom he's got a crush on whatever girl (probably the daughter of someone I went to school with... so, those of you to whom this applies, here's your forewarning: my son might be in love with your daughter someday...and we may never know). He's going to kiss girls, and I won't know. He certainly won't be telling me beforehand. He'll probably want to do (or actually do...) much more (not that I'll ever be fully comfortable with that... probably won't accept it until he's married and hands me a grandkid...when he's over 30, of course). Scary. He's such a good kid, and I so badly want to keep this communication open. Maybe not entirely open...I don't think I'll ever want the gory details, but I want to know enough to know he's safe.
Right now I have a sweet little boy who loves his mama and tells me everything... Guess I should just enjoy this part of parenting while I can, right?
Something else I think I should talk about here is the sweetness of childhood fears. My kid isn't afraid of the dark. He's not bothered by most strangers, though this could just be because we're from a small town and there aren't too many strangers here. Loud sounds don't bother him much. Fire doesn't bother him (though he's never been formally introduced). He's a bit apprehensive when it comes to trying new things (jumping castles, power wheels...), but ends up enjoying them. He likes storms. But he is terrified of moths. And flies.
A couple weeks ago, the front door was open after dark and quite a few moths got in. One took up residence on the couch...and as I am indifferent toward moths, I let it be. It was 2 or 3 days before Oliver noticed it... the little brown moth crawling along....toward the cars and trucks that Oliver usually piles on the couch. He started squealing... yelling, "noooo noooo mama noooo," and ran over to me, pointing at the couch. I didn't know it was the moth that was scaring him at first (it was small and pretty much the same color as the couch cover...). Once I figured it out, I tried explaining that moths aren't dangerous... they don't bite... they're fuzzy...etc. I picked it up on a piece of paper and moved it outside. Oliver watched with lots of interest, but wasn't any less scared. A few nights later, a moth landed on the table while he was eating dinner, and he was so bothered by it that he couldn't finish his meal. He HAD to get out of his booster seat...as fast as possible. At least he's learned what they're called so that he can tell me what's bothering him.
The fear of flies came about during a recent trip to the zoo with Taylor and her family. Taylor had sprayed some juice on herself, and as a result, she got a little fly friend. It was crawling around on her hand and she was watching it...she wasn't at all bothered by its presence, seemed kind of interested. The fly may or may not have been stuck to her hand...she was able to move her arm around quite a bit without the fly flying away. She wanted to show Oliver the fly, and held her arm out to him. The fly flew a bit, and Oliver screamed. He tried to get out of the wagon (which has seat-belts...). He squealed and said "nooooo" a few times...until I freed him from the wagon.
As scared as he is by tiny flying things, it's very hard not to laugh.
He reads his Halloween book quite a bit...and on the bug pages, he talks about not eating bugs..."No eat beetles. No eat worms. No eat spiders." This is all because of bean sprouts being present in Chinese food... and looking suspiciously like worms.
Oliver's innocence is just so sweet... Maybe I'm clinging to the last bit of baby in him. I really do hope that the fear of tiny winged bugs passes soon.
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