The blue man

Little Big Boy said, "The blue man said I can have crayons." Our waiter brought us our drinks and Little Big Boy quizzed, "Are you the blue man?" The waiter smiled and laughed and replied, "Yes. Yes, I AM the blue man."

Little Big Boy kept talking with the Blue Man through out dinner and the thing is that the Blue Man enjoyed it. He liked talking with Little Big Boy. Over the course of dinner, I discovered that the Blue Man was going away to college in September. Truth be told, I do not recall what he was going to study, but I wished him well. He earned a tip that night...not because he provided excellent service, which he did, but because he took Little Big Boy's heart into consideration in everything that he did that night.

It didn't matter how many times Little Big Boy wanted to chat. It didn't matter what Little Big Boy wanted to tell him. The Blue Man was interested and sweet. The Blue Man had a smile for Little Big Boy every time that he passed our table. The Blue Man found reasons to hover near Little Big Boy. The Blue Man will be a good daddy.

Perhaps four weeks later, we were out celebrating Number One Daughter's birthday at a pizzeria and Little Big Boy got very upset when G tried to put him in a high chair. We are in that stage where a high chair is more a security than a necessity. Little Big Boy can sit at the table, but he likes to get up and visit with everyone in a place, so we tend to put him in high chair, just to contain some of his bottled enthusiasm for people.

Anyway, G was trying to place Little Big Boy in a high chair and our three year old protested-loudly, "No. I don't want to sit in the high chair. The black man said I can sit on this chair." We smiled at Little Big Boy and let him sit in the chair next to me. He sat there like a big boy. Curious about everyone and everything around us.

The pizzeria has a fire fighter motif. Hats, boots, tools and two child's' pedal pushed fire trucks are suspended from the ceiling. Little Big Boy was excited to see the fire trucks again. We had been seven months earlier to this pizzeria and he wanted to ride the fire truck very badly. He didn't understand then that he couldn't.

This time was different. He decided to ask the black man about it. Our waiter came to our table with our drinks. Little Big Boy looked up at him and said, "Are you the black man?" Our waiter looked at Little Big Boy and smiled, "Yea. I am." Little Big Boy smiled back and stated, "I wish I could ride the fire truck." Then the Black Man replied, "Me, too." Little Big Boy's eyes lit up. He discovered kinship. The Black Man wanted to ride the prized fire truck, too! The waiter left our table.

Then Little Big Boy turned to me and said, "I wish I could ride the fire truck." "I know," I replied, but you can't." Little Big Boy said, "No! I WISH." Silly Mommy.

Little Big Boy is growing up so quickly. He makes distinctions between something that he can or wants to do. That is a big leap. Before this, he only knew whether we would say yes or no to a request. Now he understands that there are things that you just can't do.

But there is a much greater realization at work with Little Big Boy. He is identifying people. He realizes that there are blue men and black men. He knows the difference and it is very important. He knows that there are differences in people. There are differences in men. And the thing that I like best about Little Big Boy's understanding of his world is that he judges people by color. He judges them by a whole rainbow of color. He judges people by the color of their shirts. If only the world could be so blessed.