Monday, March 12, 2007

"Our Whole Family" & "That Is Not Our Daddy"

Lately Kyle and Owen seem to be doing a lot of thinking about our family -- who is in our family, who is not in our family, etc. Right now, for them, "our family" = "Mommy, Papi, Kyle and Owen." For example, if we're walking somewhere, or if we're driving somewhere in the car, the boys will often say, "Where are we going?" and Braydon or I will say, "We're going to the store" (or wherever we're going). Then they'll say in response, "Our whole family is going to the store!" and we'll say, "Yes! Our whole family." This kind of scenario is happening a lot lately -- like, sometimes multiple times a day. Yesterday on our way home from the ocean we stopped at a restaurant for an early dinner. I was holding Owen's hand as we were walking into the restaurant and Braydon and Kyle were walking in front of us. Owen said, "Mommy, our whole family is going in the restaurant." I said, "Yes, our whole family." When we got inside the place was packed with a very racially diverse crowd, including lots of black people. The set-up inside the restaurant was basically one very large open room with many tables throughout. We were seated at a table near a side wall, and Owen's seat was facing outward, so that he had a full view of almost the entire restaurant. I was sitting next to him. Soon after we were seated, a very attractive and well-dressed black man walked through the center of the restaurant -- from the front of the big open room to his table at the back of the room. I noticed Owen noticing him but the man appeared oblivious to Owen. As the man walked past our table (separated by 2-3 tables of diners), Owen, while dramatically pointing at the man, said very loudly, "Mommy, that is not our daddy!" Some people seated around us could hear him, and they turned to look at Owen. I said, "That's right baby, that is not your daddy."

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