When I Was 5...

Today we were out running errands and I decided to treat the kids to ice cream at the Big Dip. We were in North Syracuse (which is not our usual stomping grounds) and the kids were fascinated by the giant ice cream cone on top of the building. I remember getting ice cream at the Big Dip when I was kid, and told them how I lived near there until I was five.

Gabriel (who is 5) was very interested in the fact that I moved when I was 5, and wanted to know all about it. Then he asked "Mommy, where as smart as me when you were 5?" Umm, well, hmm... how do I answer that?

"I could read when I was 5, but I couldn't read as well as you can," was my reply. There, I was being honest but not adding too much fuel to the fire for Gabriel's super ego.

"So, you weren't as smart as me?" he asks.

"Or maybe it's just that nobody taught me to read when I was two." As I said it I'm thinking "I probably couldn't have learned to read when I was two because while I am intelligent, your IQ seems to be in a whole different ballpark than mine. But if you figure that out now, I won't be able to live with you for the next 13 years..."

Thankfully, he gave some credence to the fact that he was given opportunities that nobody gave to me. That, and I quickly changed the subject by offering to drive them past the house where I lived until I was 5. Crisis averted!