Imagination

I love him to bits but, lately, our four-year-old is driving me crazy.  He's quite the space cadet.  He's a sweet, smart, sociable little guy but he also has an incredibly vivid imagination.  It often seems the stuff going on between our son's ears is far more interesting to him than real life.  It's nearly impossible to get his attention!  And following directions? Forget about it!

This morning I sent the oldest boys downstairs to eat breakfast.  (I took the boys downstairs, got everything ready, and left them shoveling cereal into their mouths.)  I hurried to get the two little ones dressed. Our four-year-old soon ran up the stairs to find me.

"Mommy!"  he yelled, "We've got trouble!"

(I thought, "What?  Did they spill the orange juice?")

"Mommy!  We need a hero!"  

("I guess I can heroically wipe up juice.")

"Because there's a big pile of dirt!"

"Um, excuse me?" I asked, "What in the world are you talking about?"

"I need to dress up as a super hero because there's a big pile of dirt out on the street!"

(I failed to see the connection between dirt, super heroes and breakfast, but that's usually the way of it.)

"Dude.  Did you finish your cheerios?" I asked.

Our young hero stared into space, deep in thought.  "Oh yeah.  That's what I was supposed to be doing..." he replied.

(Sigh.)