Best Friends

Joey and his peers have gotten into a nasty habit in their preschool class about what makes you a best friend and what doesn't. Apparently the criteria is not consistent, nor considerate, but if you take a toy or push someone down you are more than likely to hear, "you aren't my best friend!"
Sounds cute. No? Well when it happens 27 million times per day I can imagine it only gets old and hurtful.
Anyways, this term has resonated over into our family life. The formula looks something like this. Joey gets upset/in trouble = "your aren't my best friend" (for punishing me). Lately, poor Uncle Cody has gotten the brunt end of not being Joey's best friend. Joey's words, not mine. However, if the last week or so has shown any improvement it's that Cody is back on the best friends list. Apparently owning a boat and promises of fishing are Joey's criteria and Cody seems to fit that bill. I think Uncle Cody letting you use his tools to help him lay down hardwood floor doesn't hurt either.

What strikes me about Joey's use of this term is how it means different things depending on the person it's directed at. For his best friend (truly) at school, Carter, is simply his really good friend. Although Carter is wise and tells Joey that he can't be best friends if he uses potty words. Smart Boy. But for Joey, in his eyes, Mommy is his real best friend. He tells me this all the time. "Mommy, you are my best friend." This happens at least 10 times a day. My first inclination was to put a stop to this, as I don't believe that parents and children are meant to be friends in any way. But I started to realize that for Joey, it is another way for him to say, "I love you, Mommy." Last night we were sitting on the couch, snuggling, watching Mickey's Silly Problem (for the umpteenth time) and he turned around, squeezed me tightly, and professed his love, "you are my best friend."

This warms my heart. Sometimes he just says, "I love you!" But other times, the other phrase is his way of saying, "I really love you."
There are times where I want to find ways to tell Josh or Joey, how much I really love them, because let's be honest, "I love you" sometimes doesn't express it as much as you mean.
So right now, Joey and I are best friends...Daddy too. But I can only imagine this will not last too much longer. I am thinking it's not hip to be "friends" with your Mom in kindergarten.