"Mom, I have to tell you somethin'," my four-year old begins.
I ask him what that might be.
"I still love you!" he says sweetly.
And no, he doesn't want anything. He just likes to hear himself talk, I'm pretty sure. Because I hear this, and hundreds of other little things, all day long. The kid just cannot stop talking. And most of it is harmless chatter. Some of it, like this little conversation, is very sweet. A lot of it is the endless questions of why and how and when and where and who.
He's four, and he's curious and talkative. That combination can make for some really, really long days. And I try really hard to be patient with him, though I don't always succeed. But in the back of my mind, as I'm nodding or answering questions for the thousandth time that day, I can't help but think of his two little brothers and how I wish they would do the same. Maybe someday . . .
