"In six weeks Olive will be a year old," I say to Nick. We sit at the kitchen table with full bellies and empty bowls.
He thinks for a moment, "Seven."
"Ok, six and a half but still it will be here fast." Olive sleeps in her crib, an early evening nap, which doesn't bode well for the night ahead.
"And you know what that means." Nick looks at Elias. "It means this guy will be seven."
Elias grins. "Whooaa!"
"And that means someday you'll be ten." I hold up both my hands.
"Whooaa!" Elias sits in his booster chair, in his size four pants, grinning and kicking his legs.
"Double digits!" Nick says.
"And someday you'll be thirteen."
"Whoooaaa!"
"Oh, I can't think about you being thirteen." I touch my pointer finger to his nose.
Elias laughs, excited about our number play, oblivious to adolescence and my overstuffed closets of angst. "And then I'll be fourteen!"
"Whoa, you'll be big then."
"I'll be up to here," He reaches his hand towards the ceiling.
We continue upwards. Sixteen.. Eighteen... Twenty...
"Someday I'll be twenty-one!" He declares, stretching the one into a shout, excited about counting, with no knowledge of the liquid freedom that comes with this age.
"Twenty one! Wow! What do you think you'll be doing when you're twenty-one?"
Without his normal processing delay, Elias bursts, "Maybe, I'll be able to erase the whole board!"
"Maybe if no one else picks it I'll get to be the board eraser!" Elias has said to me more than once over the past month, coveting this glamorous position, not satisfied with being a mere line leader or lunch cart helper...
Posted by: Christy | 10/26/2010 at 10:38 PM
I love this kid. He can erase my board any time!
Posted by: Danielle | 10/27/2010 at 03:56 AM
I adore how "in the now" Elias is...most kids. I always need reminding to live more like they do. Thanks Elias!
Posted by: fleming | 10/27/2010 at 06:05 AM
It is funny how the jobs that seem so mudane and boring to us are so exciting to them. I have a "paper passer" in my room. The kids LOVE this job. I am so glad they do because I HATE passing out papers!
Posted by: Jessica | 10/27/2010 at 07:08 AM
That's so sweet! I want to make him a stick with a swivel eraser so he can sit and erase the whole board.
Posted by: Gili's Mom | 10/27/2010 at 10:21 AM
I love this post! Makes me smile!
Posted by: Shelley | 10/27/2010 at 12:44 PM
Maybe he'll be erasing the whole board, because he will be the teacher =) Love his spirit!
Posted by: Marlen | 10/27/2010 at 04:43 PM
I love love love love love this! And hooray for him for already fulfilling a dream!
Posted by: Ginna | 10/28/2010 at 07:18 PM