{When Aidan Texts}

Because Wednesday is our busy day, I tend to get a lot of texts from the kids. Today Aidan wins the award for most diverting texts. The first one appeared when I was dropping Jamie off at the office. I was so proud of myself for having left a nice breakfast for the kids. Or so I thought.

"The bottom of the baked oatmeal is slightly burnt. Not to whine, I'm just saying. aidan."

Well. Glad it wasn't a whine. (You'll notice the tactful adverb, "slightly.") For the sake of frugality, I suggested that he might scrape off the bottom of the oatmeal.

"Oh, never! It's really yummy!"

I didn't see that one coming, but I was thankful. It was also a sweet glimpse into Aidan's personality. I guess he really meant it when he said, "Not to whine."

A couple of hours later, I had dropped Little Miss off at her art class when I received an urgent request. (The urgency was suggested by the use of all caps.)

"I NEED HELP WITH A MATH PROBLEM. IT'S PROBLEM 2 BUT I PRACTICED MY PIANO."

I didn't relish the thought of texting math instructions and suggested that perhaps big brother could assist him. Alas,

"No. He's too busy."

Aidan, however was not too busy. Indeed, he had even PRACTICED MY PIANO. My phone rang out:

"The problem is this: Every fourth bead on Mary's necklace is red there are 164 beads in all. How many beads are red?"

He typed the whole problem. I certainly did not intend to text the method back and sent back a succinct reply:

"Call me."

He finally texted, "41 beads are red!" while I was zipping through Trader Joe's, followed by the request, "Hey, can i have peach yogurt? That was aidan." In case I'd forgotten who was texting me.

His last, lyrical text suggested that he was looking for a treat to reward himself for completing his math assignment:

"Oh where, oh where have the chocolate chips gone?
Oh where, oh where can they be?"

I thumbed a (pathetic) lyrical reply,

"They're all in the scones,
but, dear, worry not --
You may eat one says your Marmee!"

To which he replied with the endearing cheer, "Yipee, marmee."

On days like today, which ring with these quirky little communications from my kids, I feel like "Yippee" and "Marmee" do go hand in hand. But not yippee for me. Yippee because I love it that I get to be a Marmee. Burnt oatmeal, math questions, missing chocolate chips and all.