Friends

You know, about 2 years ago I took the boys to a new pediatrician. I had to fill out some paperwork to see if they were on the correct level for their age. One of the questions I was supposed to ask them was "tell me the name of a friend." Then in parenthesis it said, "not the name of a family member." I thought that was one of the weirdest things I had ever seen. I think of my brother as a friend. Many siblings consider each other friends. I figure they want to make sure the child understands that the word friend is different than family but I think it can totally apply to a family member. I would consider my dad a very good friend. He is a better listener than most people I know and FAR surpasses most men I know. In fact, I would be much lonelier woman if I couldn't call and talk to him every few days. The man's "daily word limit" doesn't seem to apply to him. Well, I guess I do luck out there because my mom doesn't talk a whole lot; so he has plenty of words left when I call. LOL

Anyway, I was thinking of this because today Thomas and I were talking about friends. I don't know how we got on the subject but I said,

"Thomas do you have any friends?"

Thomas replied, "Yes."

"Who are your friends?" I asked.

"Zach," he immediately replied.

(Zach is in his classes at church.)

"Do you have any more friends?" I asked curiously. He always says Zach so I wanted to see if he felt that he's made more friends.

He looked thoughtful for a few seconds and then said, "You."

I just about cried. It was so sweet. I think I'll keep that in my heart and maybe on paper so that one day when he's 16 and I "annoy and/or embarrass him" I can look back on that memory with fondness. What a sweet kid. It was especially sweet considering that he's a COMPLETE Daddy's boy. LOL