The boys and I were driving in the van this morning. Buddy said something so hilariously "Buddy" that I was struck again with how much I love that boy and this preschool age and my life with him. I just had to say, "I love you."
"Why? Where are you going?" (sounding worried)
"Huh?"
"Where are you going? Why did you say that?" (a little more worried)
"I'm not going anywhere. What makes you think I'm leaving?"
"You said, 'I love you.'" It's the WAY he parroted my "I love you" back to me that brought understanding. He sing-songed it with the "love" being the highest tone (kind of like the NBC television network chime, low-high-med).
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. That's something you just say when you're going away somewhere else." (calmer)
"Oh, well, hmmm. That's not what I meant to say. I was just feeling a lot of love for you right then and I wanted to let you know. What if I say, 'I love you, Buddy'?" (high-low-low-low-low)
"Yeah, that's okay. When you say 'Buddy' in it, you're not going away." (relaxed, back in Buddy coasting mode)
Then I thought about the last few times I had heard Buddy say "I love you"...they were all occasions when he was leaving a person somewhere. And he used the same tones every time. And here I was the whole time thinking he was such a balanced soul, in touch with his feelings, and at-ease with expressing his more vulnerable emotions. Pbbbbsh.
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I would have been a little alarmed at that age, too, if Mom had said something similar. I would have worried that she had a feeling she was going to die or something. And that's really interesting that he was so clued into your tone, almost more than the words themselves.
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