Yesterday evening, while my husband was off doing some story research (actually, he was bar-hopping. But it really was for a story), AJ and I hopped in the car and ran some last-minute birthday errands, went to the playground, and had dinner at our favorite diner. Our final stop was the grocery store for cake and candles. AJ is the official family cake-picker. On this particular occasion, he selected an ice cream cake shaped like a football, which, of course, he wished to eat immediately. In the middle of the bakery section. Without a spoon. Fortunately, he decided he could wait for Daddy, seeing as it was his cake, and was distracted with the task of picking out candles. As he was examining a wide array of candles shaped likc crayons, sparkling candles, twisty candles, and re-lighting candles, another set of candles suddenly caught his eye. �Mommy, that one says 40!� The candle in question was black and shaped like a tombstone. It read �Here Lies My Youth � 40.� Somehow I didn�t think my husband was going to appreciate this particular sense of humor, but AJ was so excited about it and I was concerned about what would happen to an ice cream cake with 40 lit candles on top. I picked it off the rack.

�Mommy, it�s a football candle!� I looked at it again. Nope, looks like a tombstone to me. �Why do you say it�s a football candle?� �Because, look, it has grass on it!� AJ exclaimed. I examined the candle again and, indeed, the tombstone was nestled in some preternaturally green, waxy grass. �Well, then, it is perfect.� AJ was proud of himself for having found the perfect candle. He carried it all the way around the store, all the way through the checkout line, and all the way to the car, relinquishing it only to be scanned and priced. I made a mental note to explain the candle to my husband.

But, as it turned out, no explanation was unnecessary. At 6:30 a.m. on the dot, the time at which AJ is permitted to get up, I heard his feet hit the floor and run to our door. He came in with our usual wake-up call, �It�s 6:30!� always spoken with such excitement that it is as if it is the first time it has ever been 6:30. I groggily rolled over to say good morning. �Do you remember what today is?� He thought for a minute. �It�s Wednesday!� �But it�s also Daddy�s birthday,� I reminded him. �Do you want to sing him happy birthday with me?� We launched into what is surely the first of his many renditions of the song today. And once reminded of the importance of the day, AJ remembered the candle and out came the whole story of the football candle. AJ was asking for cake before we even turned on the lights, but was reluctantly placated with cereal and the 15th reading of Nate the Great Goes Down in the Dumps since we checked it out of the library yesterday. And now I must go give some thought to how to deflect his thoughts from cake until after lunch. Perhaps I should make Nate the Great�s favorite lunch � pancakes.

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