Juxtaposed

Hot Wheels is in a sweet spot. He just turned 7. He’s still completely obsessed with cars and numbers and running super fast. He’s competitive and sometimes a total knucklehead, but at the same time he’s surprisingly tender. There’s a curiosity in him that hasn’t yet been locked into any assumptions about what he should or shouldn’t like. He’ll play Mario Kart or Pretty Pretty Princess, he doesn’t care if he’s hanging out with boys or girls, he still gives me a big hug and a kiss at school. It’s AWESOME.

I’m trying hard not to clutch at this moment. It’s fleeting – at some point his actions and his preferences will be choices as much as they are inclinations. He’ll start listening to the way his classmates talk; he’ll start caring what they say about him. But right now, it’s glorious. I have to work at not being a total sap around him because every day is just funny and pure.

Except for one thing. I’d like to have a word about entrapment. It always starts innocently enough, but in a heartbeat you’re in hot water. This morning, “Mummie, who invented the Frosty the Snowman song?” led to “Who invented Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?” to “Is Rudolph real?”

See what he did there? He didn’t even touch the big man, but we all know where this is going. I think I’d better start clutching at the moment, because it looks like next week it’s going to be insider trading.