He’ll be 5 in May, and he left toddlerhood far behind long ago. He’s a preschooler, and soon to leave that behind, too…
To be a Kindergartener. A real, school-aged little boy. He can be reasoned with (mostly), he can be bribed, umm I mean positively rewarded. He can do chores – some. He can pick up on a lot of things we take for granted, like the wildly disgusting and inappropriate for a 4-year-old lyrics to Flo Rida’s “Whistle.”
And he asks questions. Lots of questions – some tough ones.
“Mom, if you get deaded, how many lives do you get?” Life is one big video game to him right now.
We’ve had the “stranger danger” talk, and his response was to ride bikes in the house forever so nobody will take him. He’s also terribly afraid of lava… that our house will somehow get engulfed in hot lava. In Texas.
But then he’s really brave and grown up. And empathetic… he’s developing that.
“I’m really sorry your cat got run over, Aunt Kelly.” Those words came from him, unprovoked, during a conversation about how his aunt’s cat didn’t “follow directions” to not play in the street and died.
5 years ago, I was pregnant with him, and I dreamed of his first coos and first steps. To be honest, 5 wasn’t an age I really envisioned or looked forward to (not that I didn’t look forward to it, just that I didn’t romanticize it like squishy newborness). Everyone else’s 5 year olds seemed so… disinteresting to me. They weren’t very “cute” anymore, in that elbow dimple, toddler speech kind of way. They were just… kids.
I love when life surprises me. Surprise! Your own nearly 5 year old? Just about the cutest thing ever.
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18 comments
@babyrabies Five year old boys are the best things ever.
You hit the nail on the head. You really don’t daydream of having a 5-year-old when you’re pregnant. But then it sneaks up on you and they are just the best little kids ever. I can’t believe Landon is almost 4 1/2. I mean, really?
@babyrabies My 5yo turned 6 this week and I took it HARD! He now has to use TWO hands when he shows me his age.Can u hear my uterus crying?
See, I’m the opposite. I have actually joked before that I just wanted to adopt a five year old. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really looking forward to the squishiness of the newborn and toddler stage. But honestly I’m truly looking forward to having school age kids.
Love, love, love. And I will weep for you when he quits saying ‘deaded’. Cutest thing ever.
It’s true, right? I was always a baby person and kind of “over it” by school age. But then my own 5 year old came along and, wow. It adds a whole new dimension to my understanding of freaking adorableness. As kindergarten heads into first grade, the reading and writing thing is super fun, too (although Mommy has had to learn to text message her funny obscenities to the BFF more discreetly!). It’s pretty fun to exchange sweet little love notes and even apology notes when she misbehaves. I keep those in the keepsake box along with everything else. Love.
GOD BLESS YOU. This was a pinprick of light in life of a mother of a constant-state-of-control-freak-meltdown almost-four-year-old boy. 🙂
Hey, my 4 year old has this fear of volcanoes… so much for the educational videos I was showing her, lol
LOVE THIS POST. Because I can so relate. (Now I say that with the disclaimer that my first drove me crazy at 5–but he was the type that needed constant attention and had to fill any quiet space with noise, and I’m someone who very much needs her quiet). But my youngest, who is nearly 5…oh man, I am loving this age with him! He says everything is “beautiful.” The bugs are beautiful, the frog is beautiful, the sky is beautiful, and “Am I beautiful, Mommy?” Yes, my son…yes you are!
PS: “He’s also terribly afraid of lava… that our house will somehow get engulfed in hot lava. In Texas.”
Does he by chance play mind-craft? Just wondering.
We are big into volcanoes and lava right now, too. Jack also thinks a volcano could “get him” and when I tell him there aren’t any volcanoes in Texas he wants to know, “But what if there WAS?!” ha!
Yeah, 4 is way better than 3. I can only imagine how awesome 5 will be!
5 is magical. Kindergarten is truly amazing. The transitions (although difficult at times) and leaps & bounds made through kindergarten prove that being a parent is awesome. Imaginations run wild, questions are never ending, and a lot of fun is to be had. But don’t also forget they learn to read and it is truly one of the best things I have seen as a parent to date.
Enjoy it all. I loved 5. And now my oldest is 6 and I gotta say 6 might be topping 5.
Ha! When I read the title I read “Turns Out, I think like a 5 year old” in my head! lol
My daughter is 4, and I can already see the transition in her, the maturity coming. So excited for what the next couple of years holds.
Excellent post.
I actually did think of little kids when I was pregnant. And then when a tiny blob of baby came out, I was like, “ummmm wtf do I do with this thing?!” I actually had to learn to love the babies and to not will away the early stages. But the almost-five-year-old? Yeah, I’ve been waiting for her.
On the other hand, I’ve already shed more tears than I’d care to admit just *thinking* about dropping her off at Kindergarten.
So very true. My oldest will be 5 in May too and I’m loving it. Your pictures are fab too – you perfectly captured the ‘caught-between-child-and-big-boy’ that I see with my little guy every day. 🙂
Well put! I have a 5 year old, and reading this give me new appreciation for this age and him! Thanks!
Wow– you wrote this on the same day I wrote this:
http://oururbanplayground.com/?p=1098