Brenden-isms

Brenden likes to hear "stories" at bed time after he says his prayers and before I leave his room. We always do two stories, the Kendyl story and the Brenden story, both of which he helped me make up and neither of which are all that exciting to anyone but him.

The Kendyl Story:

There once was a boy named Brenden and a girl named Kendyl and they decided to play soccer! And they became really good friends and went to each other's houses and each other's birthday parties. And then they decided to play t-ball! And they were best friends forever. The End.

The Brenden Story:

There once was a mommy and a daddy and they loved each other very much. And then they decided to have a little boy and they named him Brenden! And then they said, "We should have a little girl!" And they did. And they named her Lauren! So there was a mommy and a daddy and a Brenden and a Lauren and they all loved each other very much. The End!

Not long ago he decided to make up the Grandma story.

The Grandma Story:

There was a grandma and a grandpa, a mommy and a daddy, a Brenden and a Lauren, and a Jackson and a Dillon. They worked at the gym and were very happy. The End!

I'm not sure I see a creative writing career in his future. :)

~~~~~

On the way to drop the dogs off at the groomer, Brenden asked me if we were still in his neighborhood. The concept of a neighborhood was not one that he figured out quickly. He used to get so upset with me when I would try to explain it. Eventually he got it but it was only after I continued to explain that our house was one small part of the neighborhood, much like how his room is a small part of our whole house, or his closet is a small part of his room.

I told him that we were no longer in our neighborhood, but rather in the city of Broken Arrow. We've talked about cities and states before, and he knows that his grandparents live somewhere else, like grandma Karen being in Colorado, but I don't think it really sunk in until that day. The ideas of "close by" and "far away" are starting to make sense to him now.

"There are lots of neighborhoods and lots of streets and people and stores, and those all make up the city of Broken Arrow," I said.

"So there are lots of houses? Lots and lots of houses?" he asked.

"Yes! Even more than you can see from right here," I replied.

"Wow..." he said, amazed. "That's unbelievable!"

I can only imagine his face when he starts to grasp the idea of states, countries, and then our infinite universe. I sure hope I have my camera handy!