Monday morning Johnny was saying bye to the kids and he said “Love you Logan” as we were walking out the door. Rather than the usual “Love you too”, Logan says “ok” and keeps on walking. What?! When did this happen? When did my baby boy turn into a pre-adolescent who is embarrassed to say “I love you” to his dad? I was devastated. Johnny, not so much. I wanted to drag Logan back in the house and tell him to answer his daddy. Johnny, not concerned at all. I wanted to know what was wrong with Logan. Johnny, he’d already moved on to whatever was on the news. I asked him what had just happened, he told me it was just a “boy thing”.
Now, there is no doubt that Logan loves his daddy. He shows it in many other ways. I guess I’m just not ready for this transition. I know he’s only 9, I know there is a long way to go until we get to the teen years. But wow, already embarrassed to show some affection? It just means that those teen years are closer than before.
Right now I need to live in the moment. I’m happy that he still says “I love you” to me and he still asks me to lay with him for a few minutes at bed time so that he can tell me about his day. Those are some of my favorite times. He tells me what is going on at school, he tells me what scares him, what he wants to do, what he wants me to do. The younger two kids require so much of me at this stage in their lives, I feel like he gets the least of my attention these days. I enjoy having those quiet moments with him.
Tonight, Johnny was teasing him and kept saying “I love you” over and over. Logan continually responded with “ok” & “I know” & “whatever”. In the end, he eventually got an “I love you too” out of him along with lots of laughs. My baby boy is still there.