When gratitude tickles your belly….

I never know what might burst forth from my children’s mouths. They don’t possess the environmentally learned filters that most adults have acquired over the years. With that said, I have been surprised, embarrassed, and flabbergasted by some of the things that my children have said.

More recently, my sweet son proved me wrong. We were at Advance Auto parts. Dad had gone in to get an oil filter, while I sat in the car with the kids.

“MOMMY!! MOMMY!! LOOK AT HIM?!” {Sean is pointing frantically out the window at a man with a black shirt on}

“What baby? What’s wrong?” I asked.

“MOMMY!! MOMMY!! I told you that BATMAN was real!! THERE HE IS!!” {Sean can barely breathe he is so excited}

As the young man in the black shirt turned around, I could see the bright yellow pointy logo on the front of his shirt…yes, Batman was indeed standing in front of me…and to a 4-year-old who idolizes superheros, Batman arrived on the scene to save the day {and proved his mommy wrong}.

Callie and I cackled and said almost at the same time: “Sean, that’s not Batman. He’s just wearing a Batman shirt!”

Sean bantered back with, “No, mommy and Dee, that is Batman. He is real and I told you so.”

Anthony was coming out of the store as Sean pronounced: “I will ask daddy. He knows if Batman is real or not.”

With no delay, “Daddy, daddy, I just saw Batman. He is real!”

Anthony, with a smile on his face, had already seen the man in question. “If you think Batman is real, then he is real.”

“I told you mommy and Dee. Batman is real,” declared Sean with arms proudly crossed.

I smiled as I gave in and agreed with his declaration, “if you say so, little buddy!”

Well, the story gets better. Part of our bedtime routine is to share 5 things with each other that we are grateful for. Most of the time the answers are similar, but sometimes they are extraordinary. Here is Sean’s list of things he was grateful for the evening of the Batman sighting:

1. My family and friends.

2. That I get to go back to preschool in the fall.

3. That we are going to go to the movie theater tomorrow and watch that movie.

4. That we got to watch airplanes at the airport at night-time.

………….are you ready for this one??……………

5. That BATMAN is real!

Yes, son, if you think Batman is real, then that is okay with me!