Kyle

Tonight Kyle decided that he didn't want to go to bed at all. He told me around 7pm that he wanted to stay up all night. I remember reading a children's book to my boys where the main character didn't want to go to bed, so his mom told him he could stay up all night. After everyone else goes to bed, he decides that he is bored and goes to bed also. That is what I decided to do with Kyle. I had to go grocery shopping tonight after everyone else was in bed, so I decided to take Kyle with me. I think it is ironic that I have my 4-year-old in Wal-mart with me from 10pm to 11:15pm because I always am appalled by people who have their children with them that late at night! Haven't they heard of a decent bedtime? Anyway, here I am with my should-be-in-bed, totally-past-his-bed-time, 4-year-old walking around Wal-mart. It actually turned into a very fun shopping trip with lots of teachable moments. The first thing we did was go to the toothbrush/paste aisle. He needed a new toothbrush and toothpaste, so he immediately picks up some Shrek toothpaste and starts pointing to all the expensive character toothbrushes. I ask him to read me the numbers for the toothbrush that he wanted versus the cool 2-pack of toothbrushes that I picked out. He reads the numbers and I explain to him that the one that he picked out costs a whole lot more than the ones that I picked out. I said to him something like "how awesome is that...you can have the red one and Nathanael can have the blue one" (their favorite colors.) He seemed to understand! We did the same thing with the toothpaste and we ended up with the $1.57 Aquafresh for kids versus the $2.96 Shrek toothpaste that was the exact same size. We had experiences like this the whole time we were there. About 10 minutes after we picked out the toothbrushes, he is holding the toothbrushes in his hands and says something that completely caught me off guard, made me smile, and confirmed that I have a thinker on my hands! He says (to himself, not really to me), "Why are they called toothbrushes not teethbrushes because inside your mouth is teeth, not tooth?" I know the grammar isn't exactly correct, but his little wheels were sure turning inside that head of his!! Does anyone care to answer that question? I didn't really know what to say. I think I said something like, "Hmmm, I've never thought about that before."
Well, now we are home and he finally did look like he was going to fall over and did go to bed. He helped me carry in the groceries, unload the dishwasher, reload the dishwasher, and straighten up the living room before he went to bed, though. He kept asking me if I was going to bed soon, too. I think he just wanted to spend some time with his mommy. Oh yeah, Mike is on a "business trip" in Nashville until Thursday. Tough times, I'm sure!