d.a.n.t.

I have the world's most affectionate son. When my husband leaves for work, The Boy's feet hit the floor and he jumps in bed with me to cuddle or whisper or fall back asleep. He is huggy and lovey and likes to show me affection.

He doesn't care who sees him love his mommy, either; at least, he used to not care.

The first time The Boy decided he was A Big Boy was last year; he had just turned eight and had a friend over to spend the night. He whispered in my ear, Don't tuck me in tonight or kiss me, ok? Just wave from the door. I can assure you, my heart did a little twinge, but I understood he didn't want to look like A Little Boy in front of his friend, who was the ripe old age of ten and thought it was weird to like your mom.

A few days later, I dropped him off to spend time with Another Friend. I started to hug him goodbye, but he took a little step back and proclaimed Another Friend had told him he was too old for that.

All the mommy-guilting in the world couldn't change his mind.

Time passed, and suddenly it seemed he had forgotten he was A Big Boy and he began to hug me in public again.

Happy Mommy!

Until we went to the zoo last week with a large group of friends. I started to hold his hand, and he looked at me like I was trying to make him walk through the zoo naked or something. I was brave and did not cry, but when we got home we had a little talk about how Little Boys become Big Boys and eventually Grown Men, but he will always, always in my heart, be my Little Boy.

I've always liked this song, but I think this is my favorite version.

Assumptions: We all make them, and we've all heard what making them does.

Sometimes assumptions are based on actual personal knowledge about someone we know.

Many times, however--especially when dealing with the big world of people who live inside the internet--assumptions are made based on nothing other than the 'About Me' box we read on someone's blog. That opinion, formed in the space of seconds, is backed by our personal feelings about certain descriptive words that the blogger may have used in describing herself.

In my 'About Me' box, I deliberately typed 'non-theist' instead of 'atheist' because I hope it causes someone to stop and think about what that means. I think people see the word atheist and start making assumptions that the person behind the word is a depraved being who worships Satan. (If you're one of those people, we don't believe in Satan, either.) I wonder if the emphases were equally on the first and second syllables, if that would cause people to view it differently...if it were pronounced A-THEE-ist instead of A-theist. I wonder if all the assumptions surrounding that word would suddenly shift a little, because the meaning might become a little more clear.

This commercial makes me laugh because the kid is just so adorable!

I hope it gives you a smile on this Monday.