i probably shouldn't have laughed at that

When my youngest cousin Kathryn was about 7 or 8, she told me (with lots of giggles) how her mom would lie down with her at night and while praying would begin saying odd things and then slurring her speech and then she would flat out fall asleep. I remember thinking, Come on, how could she be that tired? I was a know-it-all single girl at the time. Now I know.

Since Monday I have been getting up every morning around 5 a.m. to work and haven't gotten to bed before 11 p.m. I'm a tad bit tired. So, tonight, I laid down with Liam and as I was praying, I felt the bone-dead fatigue setting in. So I hurried up the prayer and promptly dozed off. A few minutes later, I woke, startled, and found Liam about an inch from my face staring at me.

"Do you remember the evil witch with the sour apples?" he said. "She gave one to the girl, and the girl ate it, and then she got dead."

"Uh..."

Liam plopped onto his pillow and thoughtfully stared at the ceiling. "I remember that," he said.

As my eyes began to close again, he rolled back to his side and said, "Do you remember when I was a bunny for Halloween and at the Halloween party that boy stepped on my foot under the refrigerator?"

Huh?

"Mom, your hair is all messed up."

"Okay, Liam, why don't you tell me your favorite thing today."

Pause. "I don't know."

"Well, what about something with Nora and Maggie?"

We had eaten lunch with my cousin and her girls and Liam always has the greatest time at their house.

"Oh, yeah. When we were eating we rhymed, like Liam padiam and Elliott padelliott," he said excitedly. "But my bite came out of my mouth when I laughed and then Maggie spit her bite at me and I spit at her."

In a flash, Liam popped up on his hands and knees and looked at me with a huge smile and said, "Watch this!"

Then, he spit. In my face.

It was a combination of the shock, the incredible fatigue and the realization that he was totally oblivious to the fact that this was a wrong thing to do. A very wrong thing to do. I couldn't help myself. I laughed, until I cried. Then I mustered all my mom power and said in my sternest voice, "Liam! That is very naughty! We do not spit. And we NEVER spit at other people. That's gross. Do you understand?"

Liam was lying on his side looking at me, sucking his thumb and nuzzling his blanket. He slid his thumb out of his mouth, grinned slightly and said softly, "But, mom, I think you liked it a little bit."