guess how much

"Mom, I just don't know how much I love you, I love you so much..."this coming from the lips of my precocious, darling, four-year old son moments after he patiently, gently counselled me with: "Mom, next time you see me come into your room in the middle of the night,  tell yourself this -It means I need a drink of water and milk, water first, and cold - in your head so you don't forget." Snakey expresses such adult-like wisdom at times that I feel like the child at his feet. He knows me well enough to recognize both my forgetfulness and dislike of criticism, so he gets what he wants while remembering to be kind. Yet moments later he allows me to carry him like a much younger child, his legs encircling my waist, head tucked under my chin as I accompany him to his room.  "But remember...did you tell yourself in your head so you don't forget?" He just popped back into my room to dispense with some friendly advice.  We also have a special smile - it means: Love you forever and ever, Mommy and Daddy. This is the same child who relentlessly goads his younger brother into a fist-fighting frenzy almost hourly, expertly wielded a steak-knife upon my newly re-upholstered dining room chairs, (covered with very expensive oilcloth i ordered all the way from portland, or), leaving them with nearly 30 uniform slits between 2 chairs, ignores "no" repeatedly while looking ryan and me in the eyes with a knowing smile, and frequently manages to cut his own hair with childrens' scissors.  Ahhh, my heart overfloweth...