My son is seven, soon to be eight. Lately, he’s been asking for, and getting a great deal more independence. About a week ago, he came back from a visit with his buddy who lives next door (next door meaning down the dirt road a bit, we’re out in the country). It was already dark (just after 5:30, but dark already, where did the summer go?), but he had come alone, without a light (there was a full moon). He talked in a grown up manner of how beautiful it was in the quiet and the snow. And he mentioned that, oh yeah, he had stopped by our other neighbors and talked to them about the job (he’s getting a bit of pocket money for watering his plants while the neighbor goes away on vacation). Then my husband told him that he uploaded some new games to his website. “Oh yeah, daddy, I know”, he said.

“How could you know that already?”

“Well, I checked my e-mail when I was at my friend’s house”.

We kind of shook our heads in amazement. Then, he said he was supposed to call the friend and tell them he made it home ok. I dialed the number, but he talked.

It may not seem like a big deal, but on that day my seven year old walked home by himself in the dark, in the snow, after checking his e-mail. On the way home, he talked to a man about a job. And he talked to a friend on the phone, something he had never done before. It all makes me realize that my baby’s getting older (and therefore, so am I). Oh well, enough writing. It’s getting late (8:30) and I need to make a warm cup of tea and get my slippers on. Oh dear, we are old.