Prairie Days

I have to credit my sister Sally with this association, but John is officially in the "Little House on the Prairie" stage. (Sally's daughter Celia recently went through the same thing.)

John screams "Maaaaaaa!" with such depth and soul and frequency, he could easily be a lost son of the Wilders. As we shopped today in Costco, he amused his burly self by filling every inch of space up to the ceiling with his "Maaaaaa!" even though I was right there, obediently pushing him in the cart, of course!

But, I did feel like a celebrity. Like I really was Ma Wilder. Just as I do every day. He heralds my coming, to all those celebrity-ish places I visit: the grocery store, his siblings' schools, the rec. center, our sidewalk...

If we lived on the Prairie, we'd probably call John "Son," with a drawn-out kind of accent. But in truth, he's a mama's boy, sleeping right beside me on the couch as I type. And karma works itself out. To his attentive siblings, he's fondly known as "Little Johnny John."