did you know that?

Kids teach you all kinds of things, right? Patience, for one thing.  How it would be possible to poop off the front porch through the railing slats to the flower bed below, for another.  But by far my very most favorite thing is how to appreciate every little thing in the world around you.

Along these lines, the newest phrase, repeated every four point three minutes, in our house is, "Did you know that, Mama?" and "Did you KNOW that, Daddy?" 
To give you the full picture, it's always prefaced by something like "These shorts have pockets - did you know that Mama??"  Or, overheard on the phone with his grandfather last night, "You have a John Deere tractor, did you know that Poppie?!?!"

Did you know that, guys?

And the thing of it is, you're so happy for his delight, you can't bring yourself to say, "Well of course I knew that, little man! I also know how to floss my teeth, make a seven-layer lasagna and write my name." We try to avoid robbing him of his hourly astonishment.  So you find yourself replying with true sincerity, "No buddy, I didn't know that band-aids make it all better!"  His little face is so lit up that you honestly can't help but stop whatever very important adult thing you're doing and reflect on how amazing pockets and band-aids and buttons and steering wheels are...

But then too, sometimes, at the end of a long day, and many many many new discoveries, I'm afraid I have been heard to say, "Yes, sweetie, I did know our car is black. And that it has wheels." 

And, really happily, it doesn't really seem to lessen his glee one millibit.  (: