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“Yes.” He beams.
“Do you want Ma to read it to you or Opa?”
“Actually, Ma’s going to have to read it, or Oma.” Dad shifts guiltily. “Opa forgot his reading glasses at home.”
“So, who will it be, Little Bug? Ma or Oma?” I ask.
“Oma,” he says decidedly.
“The boss has spoken,” I say, handing the book to my mom with a smile.
“Let’s see here,” she says, clearing her throat. “It looks like what we’re looking at is called a wildebeest, but the native people call them the gnu.”
“Gnu. Moo.”
“That’s right, my little rockstar. Gnu and moo are rhyming words,” she praises. “It also says that they’re related to antelope and cows. So you were super close. How did you get to be such a good watcher?”
“I’m smart.”
She reaches up to pinch his cheek affectionately. “Yes, you are. Did you want to know any more about them?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?” I butt in.
“Yes, peas, Oma.”
“Very good.”
He squirms happily at my praise, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to make my heart explode.
“Alright, since we used our very best manners, I’ll tell you some more. The gnu are herbivores.”
“Herby. Herby.” Leo scrunches his face up in concentration. “Herby vore.”
“Very good, Leo. Do you know what that means?” she asks.
He shakes his head.
“It means they eat plants.”
Leo gasps. “I eat plants.”
“Do you?” Mom plants her hands on her hips. “Prove it. What plants do you eat?”
“I have let is, spitch, peas,” he says proudly.
“Wow, lettuce, spinach, and peas? Your mom must love you a lot if she’s giving you all that good stuff to eat.”
“Yes. Ma love me this much,” he says, flinging his arms as wide as they can go.
The confidence and surety with which he says it makes my vision blur with tears.
I turn and take a few steps away so I can pull myself back together without him noticing.
There are some days where I feel like I'm drowning in an inescapable whirlpool of tantrums, potty accidents, and constant demands for attention.
On those days, I worry I'm doing a bad job and that I'm an even worse mother for needing at least five minutes where nobody needs anything from me.
