The Latest Toby-isms

The other day, enjoying a particularly indulgent March break, I told Rob that I wanted to eat something “light” for lunch. Rob wholeheartedly agreed. Toby, trying to find his place in our adult conversation, nodded his head in agreement and said knowingly, “Yeah. I’ve had too much DARK food lately. Lets have something light.”

After enjoying our “light lunch” (Not dark lunch!) we got back into the car to find the sunroof open. It was 24 degrees out and the beginning of March. (During our absurdly delightful yet slightly terrifying freak March weather…) Can you BLAME me for leaving the sunroof open?!?!? Apparently Rob can. After being appropriately reprimanded for my careless action, I said with exasperation, “Oh come ON, Rob. Do you REALLY think anyone is going to CRAWL through my sunroof and steal our car?”

Rob was silent. I had made my point.

A few minutes later, however, Toby piped up,

“Mommy…” he said with the sweetest of intentions, “GOCHAR could climb through your sunroof!”

Thanks a lot, kid.

And then on a completely different day, in a totally unrelated situation, Toby and I were heading to daycare when he excitedly pointed out of his window and announced that he had seen a SQUIRREL in a TREE!

There are times in life when you have to REMIND yourself that you are a mommy and that even if something doesn’t SEEM exciting on the surface, it is not justification for squelching your 4-year-old's sense of wonder at the world.

And so I tried my best to disregard up all of my I-have-lived-in-Ontario-my-whole-life-and-probably-seen-about-a-thousand-squirrels-in-my-day-and-they-all-look-the-same-to-me-cynicism and said as cheerfully as possible, “Wow. That’s neat, eh?”

“Yes, Mommy!” my excited know-it-all continued, “That one must have just come out of hibernation! That means it must be SPRING!”

And then there are other mommy moments, when your child catches you so off guard that you almost ram your car into the nearest parked tree.

You know, the one with a squirrel in it.