Suddenly grown up

At age 6, you wouldn't expect your son or daughter to be exhibiting that many characteristics of an adult. Well, I wouldn't. of course, then I'd be wrong.

Aidan has made the leap from adorable little blob of a baby to a toddler to, well, almost a full-fledged dude, complete with opinions, things that embarrass him and the unpleasant reality that he thinks some of the things I do are no longer funny.

While he is still a super-fan (one of my few) he now talks to me in a way much older than his years. He tells me I say the same thing over and over, he asks me "exactly what do you do for the magazine?", he tells me my eyes are wrinkly and my belly is big.

All this he does without wanting to convey any overt harm, he tells me. He isn't being mean; just telling me how it is.

I thought I'd have until he was a teen or even a preteen before he started to notice I'm not overwhelmingly interesting. I thought he'd be in high school before he rolled his eyes and waved me away dismissively.

But now it occurs to me that I have been coasting with him, essentially ignoring coming up with new material because I figured he'd love me for a while longer before deconstructing me. So I am currently working on some new stuff I plan to present before him over the next week or so.

Wish me luck; it's a rough crowd.

Unintentionally unimpressed 6-year-old

Parents Express has won "Best Niche Publication" in the 2010 Pennsylvania Newspapers Association awards, and when I found that out this morning, Aidan, 6, was sitting next to me.
"Wow!" I said.
"What?" he asked.
"I just won an award."
"You did?"
"Yeah! The best specialty publication in my division in the whole state!"
"Wow," he said. "I can't believe you won an award."