"There's a bee in my pocket"

People have always said that your kid's childhood goes by in a flash, but up until recently, I have not felt this way at all. There have been several days this last 5 years that have gone by at a snail's pace - gliding through a tar pit. Hmmm... wonder why that was? Was it possibly because he was EXTREMELY CHALLENGING? Was it just during the terrible 2's? Bwhahaha! Make that the terrible 1, 2, 3, 4's. Of course, there was a lot of wonderful sprinkled in (and despite the challenges, I love him so much it hurts), but usually a dose of wonderful had an after shock of a mega earthquake.

Then about 2 months ago, it all just seemed to change. We get bouts of the good ol' power struggles, but he is mostly just fabulous! He's agreeable, stops when you say "no", and a serious snuggle bug. Lately he has discovered I-tunes and has a play list on his computer. He will loop his songs over and over (Let's Dance, Dynamite). The other night I caught him lip singing his songs in front of the mirror with swaying hips and booty shakes. He won't let us cut his hair (wants it long and crazy) and is already talking about tattoos. Oh my! It's like he went from toddler to teen in a matter of days! Now I get that "time flying by" thing.

My little buddy graduated from preschool this week. I cried. Yes, I have discovered that I will be one of THOSE moms that blubbers over a one word liner in the school play. He will be going to the same school next year, which is lucky because he adores it! We also adore his school because it fits perfectly with his creative and scientific mind.

Scrolling down the pictures, notice the award that says, "Best Storyteller". Really that is just a kind way of saying "Best Lier". He came up with some real whoppers this year. Examples are once I came to school and had a teacher stop me in the hall to sympathize with me. She (and practically the entire preschool staff) were still shocked and horrified by the Kid's detailed play-by-play of our morning drive to school - which included getting a flat tire in a blizzard, swerving off the road into a snow bank, getting stuck, then needing to walk in the dark for one mile to school. They totally fell for it.... and it never happened.

Another story involved a bee. When asked to clean up his activity, the Kid claimed that he had a bee in his pocket and the bee did not like the Kid to clean, so when the he bent down to pick something up, the bee would get really mad and sting him in the leg - therefore, the teachers should naturally excuse him from all clean-up so he would not get too injured from the bee.

(Oh please, powers that be, help us help him channel this "creative outlet" in a productive way. Amen.)