The trouble with 5 year olds (who have 14 year old brothers)?...they say things like check out these guns - girls love em (while flexing their chicken-skinny muscles).
Ross & Coley have 8 1/2 years in between them. Coley is convinced that when he turns 12, that he will actually become Ross, that his name will no longer be Cole, it will be Ross - doesn't matter how much I try to explain that he is going to be big like Ross and older like Ross, he is still convinced that he will actually be Ross (because he is the most opinionated 5 year old I've ever met).
Ross is a great kid, so for the most part, I'd be happy if Coley grew up to be a lot like Ross, but Ross is also a teenager (a really good teenager, but still a teenager), so Coley picks up lots of things from him that make me cringe.
Last night Cole said that when he was big, that he was going to kiss lots of cute, sexy girls (yep, used the word sexy...swears that he doesn't know what it means or where he heard it, but had no problem using it correctly in a sentence - makes a mom real proud).
I wish I could say that is out of the ordinary for Coley, but it's definitely not. Quite awhile back (he was four), we were at Applebee's eating dinner and he was watching the TV screen across the room. I happened to glance over to see him mesmerized by a commercial with a bunch of girls in bikinis. When the commercial ended, he looked up and said those girls are hot, but I bet ya they all have boyfriends. He loves the girls...doesn't care so much for the ones his age though...he informed me the other day that he likes girls with braces the best - which are always teenage girls (in fact he has an enormous crush on one of Ross's good friends - she's 13 and has braces).
Ross has always called Cole a "chick-magnet" since all the girls his age go nuts over Cole whenever Ross brings him around. Ross and Cole both eat it up.
Cole also decided a long time ago that he liked Ross's music waaaaaaay better than the Lion King and Mickey Mouse CD's that he had. I think he was 3 or 4, sitting on the floor playing with his matchbox cars when Ross & I heard him singing I'll give it to you just like you like it girl (another proud moment as a mother). Nowadays, he loves AC/DC (he sings cause I'm black in back instead of Back in Black - gotta admit that that one cracks me up) and Johnny Cash (what 5 year old likes Johnny Cash?).
Aaaaaaand he's been busted on more than one occasion for cussing (Ross swears that he has nothing to do with that though). I went to pick him up from preschool awhile back and when I got there, one of the little girls in his class hollered "Cole, your Mom is here" to which Cole replied...what the hell? I just stood there dumbfounded...so did his teacher (did I mention how proud this makes a Mom feel?).
Hard not to laugh sometimes (out of a combination of shock, guilt and inappropriate amusement). Also hard not to beat yourself up too bad as a parent. Hard not to feel like everything your child does and says is a direct reflection of your parenting skills.
Thankfully, there are times that he is absolutely wonderful...so that occasionally, I get to feel like I'm doing something right.
