I've Been Waiting Over Three Years For This....

About 11 years ago, when my niece Erika was about three years old, we had an exchange that has stuck with me for all these years. Erika was my first niece or nephew, and she's always held a special place in my heart.

We were in her backyard one afternoon, and she was on the swings while I was pushing her. As we always did back then, we were just being silly.

So as we often say to each other in my family, I said, "Erika, you're a silly goose!"

She looked right up at me with a very serious look and said, "Aunt Susan, I am not a goose!"

I've shared the story with her many times over the years, and it's a memory I will never forget.

But I've always wondered if I would have the same exchange with my own kids. We call each other a silly goose all the time. But never had I heard those immortal words out of the mouths of my boys.

Until yesterday.

Michael and I were at the grocery store, and he was being especially silly. So I said to him, "Michael, are you a silly goose?" He giggled, looked at me and said, "Michael not a goose!"

My heart melted and I gave him a huge hug right there in the middle of the dairy aisle.

I know every parent feels this way, but I just have the greatest boys in the whole world! (And of course some great nieces and nephews who have given me wonderful memories over the years, but who have grown up way too fast!)