Out of the mouths of babes

I had to post this lest I forget it. On Tuesday night, I got home from work and immediately went into Kiddo's room to hang out with him for a while and talk about our days. I plopped my still-work-dressed self down onto his bed, got comfortable, and we began chatting about various subjects appropriate to a 4-year-old. He was playing with his Matchbox cars. He'd set up a really great ramp and track and was showing me how each one of his hundreds of cars went down the track. Which one was faster; which one veered off the track; which one didn't work at all, etc... After a little while, he brought over the old model of a 1909 Opal and asked me how old the car was. Usually, Matchbox cars (and Hot Wheels) have a date stamped on the bottom of the car to indicate the year it was made. After examining this car for a minute, I said, "Well, bud...it doesn't have a date on the bottom, but I would guess it was probably made back in the 1970's." (I was pretty sure he wouldn't really understand the time-reference.) With a serious face, he said, "Oh, back in the olden days?" I suppressed a smile and said, "Yes. I guess so. Except, you know that Mommy was born in 1973, right?" He looked at me, wide-eyed, and said, "Where was I?" "You weren't even a thought at that time, bud. I was a baby then," I said to him. "But I could feel you!" he exclaimed, looking a little wistful. "You could feel me?" I asked, a little confused. He says, "Yes, I could feel you in my heart." Wow. The things that come out of his mouth sometimes surprise me. Well, they almost always surprise me. I had to struggle not to cry because it was so sweet, and I told him that was probably the nicest thing I'd ever heard. He immediately launched himself onto the bed, draped himself across me, and hugged me as tightly as he could. Then, he pushed away, gave me a quick peck on the cheek and said, "I love you, Mom." Sigh. TTFN JMS