Children learn from watching their adults. They are watching and listening and creating a detailed profile of all the behaviors you exhibit, even the ones you may not be aware of. Many times Lucas has astounded me by asking “Mommy, why are you [doing this action] differently?” and I pause to consider my behavior and realise “Holy Bovine, he’s right.” Like when he was 2 or so and he ordered me to exclaim “My big boy!” as I had done every other time I’d lifted him onto the changing table. The first time I didn’t follow the script, he corrected me, saying “Now is the time when you say ‘My big boy’.” And say “My big boy” I did. He mimics our behavior, emulating Nonno, Wade, Nanna, and yes, even me as he finds his way through this big, confusing, unruly world.

He sings snippets of the songs that we sing. He reads books devotedly much like Mommy and Daddy. I find him at the computer manipulating the mouse more and more frequently. When Wade pulls out his violin to practice, Lucas runs for his own wee violin case to join in. When I knit, he demands his own set of needles and some yarn (although his woolen creations are amorphous and his attention wanes quickly). Today when I futzed around taking care of our tiny garden bed, he joined in stretching out his attention span to its very limits while we went through the process of creating homes for some seedlings. If we are in the kitchen cooking, he drags a stool in and perches atop while he watches and attempts to grab the various implements as he too wants to mix, chop, saute, and bake. So it was inevitable that when he found my absentee ballot neglected for a few moments that he would take pen to paper to vote himself.

Yup, he marked my ballot up and now I have to rise very early tomorrow morning to get a replacement ballot so that I too can make my contribution to this historic moment. I hope that we do make change happen. Tomorrow can be a brighter day.