Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Home

There is little more heartwarming than seeing the door to the garage being flung open by Carter from the kitchen, and hearing him shriek, "Mommy's home! Mommy's hoooome!" All this fanfare, when all I did was go to the grocery store.

But what's really funny is his notion of "home." His home is "home" for anyone coming here. It reminds me of a video I saw on language acquisition that showed that first, young kids define things in relation to themselves in funny cases, such as calling the "front" of a television whatever side was facing them, even if it was the back of the TV. Or calling a cup "small" for a twelve-inch doll, just because it was small for them (even when the glass was huge as far as the doll was concerned). So when the babysitter arrives, "Alyssa's home!" Or when my parents visit, "Grandma Carol and Grandpa Frank are home!" So cute, and so heartbreaking in a way... sooner or later, the little guy will have to learn that the world doesn't revolve around him. But how wonderful for him to have this brief period where it does.

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