That 'Sinking in' Feeling

As parents there will always be times when you wonder what your kid will be like when they are a bit older.  Will they retain those personality traits as teenagers that they are displaying when they are 5 or 6?  Of course most parents will hope they retain some of them, while ditching others.

That being said, Lukas is a spontaneous kid. Yes, even for a 6 year old boy - who are known for being rather spontaneous.  He often tends to get caught up in the moment, and while never ill-intentioned, will do things that even he knows afterwards that he shouldn't do.

For instance, in the moment his curiosity might get the better of him, and he might push a button to see what would happen if he did.  His mind is always working that way, but he doesn't always stop to ask himself what the negative effects might be of such an action.

Scenarios like this will make Mrs. LIAYF and I take pause every once in a while when pondering what his teenage years will be like.

But then again, there will be times when you have moments of  hope and a sense that all the 'educating' you have been doing might actually be paying off.

Mrs. LIAYF had one of those moments this afternoon which she relayed to me a short time ago.  She was driving Lukas and a buddy home from the park when she overheard a conversation they were having in the back seat.  She didn't let on that she could hear EVERYTHING they were saying, but just listened.  A parent can learn a lot that way.

Apparently, Lukas' friend joked that he was going to open the door while the car was driving down the road. Lukas, in turn, told him that he thought the child locks were on so that he couldn't open them.  "Let's see" said the friend, as he laughed and tried to open the car door.  (By the way, yes the child locks were on, and Mrs. LIAYF is pretty sure the friend knew it and was just being goofy.)

"Don't do that!" Lukas implored "There is traffic out there, and you could hurt yourself".

His friend just laughed and said that he would just land on his feet and run off.  "Yeah, that wouldn't happen" Lukas let him know.  "You'd just get hit by a car and hurt.  And I wouldn't want that".  Lukas was plotting too, but he was being reasonable about it.

A short time later they passed a 7-11 convenience store, and the other boy said that they should hop out and run in and grab a load of chocolate bars, which they could eat while in hiding for several days from some unknown evil entity.

"That much chocolate will make you sick"  Lukas let his buddy know.  "You would need to grab some sandwiches too so that you will have some protein to eat."   "Nah, we could just eat chocolate everyday!" his friend insisted, laughing.

"Nope, I would get some sandwiches" Lukas continued.  "If I was hiding out, I would want something healthy to eat."  Of course, he said this with a devious laugh too as the two of them planned their ultimate hideout experience.

As I mentioned, Mrs. LIAYF didn't interrupt them during this exchange, and to her it was obvious that she was not privy to what was being said.  She just listened.  And smiled.

Upon hearing about this exchange, I smiled too.   Every once in a while parent will get a glimpse of their child's inner thought processes.

And for us, when we hear a small part of yourselves ringing through, it reinforces the idea that the things we are saying over and over again, are sinking in.  That maybe, just maybe, the spontaneity we see from him will not completely go away, but will be tempered by a good dose of reason.

That's a pretty good feeling.