Working all the Angles

So Ben is definitely starting to think a lot more creatively about problems these days. While we were at Mindy's folks, Ben had done something that made the construction truck unavailable. This truck is a ride on toy that has lots of buttons and is an endless source of entertainment to Ben when we're at Grandma and Grandpa's, but sadly he had misused it. So it wasn't available for the rest of the day.

A little while after said incident, Ben came to me and said, "Dad, I need to go to the grocery store... It's a long way away, so I can't walk..."

"Very interesting," I said, not sure where this was going, but having a hunch. "Maybe you should see if you can get a ride from someone."

"I think I need to use my truck, Dad," he said with such seriousness, that it was all I could do to not crack up on the spot.

"It's really sad that it's not available, huh? I guess you'll have to wait or see if someone will give you a ride."

"Ok," he said sadly. And that was the end of it for awhile.

Later that evening, I came into the kitchen to hear Ben talking to his Grandma.

"I need to go to the store by myself," he said, "and it's a long way away, so I can't walk. I need my truck since it's so far away."

So now he'd figured out this new argument as to why he couldn't get a ride with someone else. He needed to go by himself. It's so exciting to see him reasoning things out and making his case for what he wants, but it scares the crud out of me for what the teen years will be like... At least I have a few years to prepare.