Heidi: “Mommy, whatsit called when your panties get in your crack?”

Me: Wyatt, what kind of jelly do you want on your biscuit?
Wyatt: What kind we have?
Me: grape, strawberry, peach
Wyatt: Yeah, all of that.

Wyatt prays every night with Michael. Like most, prayers end with “Amen.” Wyatt has his own version of this common closing. He says “E Dend.” It is so sweet and we can’t bear to correct him. He’ll learn the right way to say “Amen” soon enough.

So, picture this:

W: “Dea Jesus, Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Cafrine, Tiwwy and Wyatt. Thank you for my fwiends, Sarah and (Sam, Jude, Crawford or whoever is foremost in his mind) E Dend.”

Hands together, he speaks very quickly. Yes, he leaves off the R in “Dear” and that’s how he pronounces “Catherine,” “Tilly” and “friends.” He always thanks God for Sarah; they’ve been in the same class for 2 years and could pass for siblings. He loves her and she him. Then a few boys make the cut.

It’s so cute I can’t stand it.

Prayer time again. I say mine. “Your turn, Heidi”
H: “I don’t want to.”
Me: “But it’s good to pray and we do it every night.”
H: “He knows what I’m thinking.”

Pretty much everything I say to that girl comes back to bite me.

At bedtime, we pray with our kids. Heidi went first and I followed. She interrupted my prayer: “Mommy, talk a little louder so He can hear you.”
Me: “You don’t have to speak loudly for God to hear you. In fact, you don’t have to speak at all. God can hear what you’re thinking.
Heidi: “Oh (long pause) Ohhhh.”