Out of the Mouths of Babes

Ben will be four years old in 3 days’ time. He’s a pretty bright kid, though I say so myself, and I think he’s pretty much grasped the idea that he’s going to be a big brother, because Mammy has a baby in her tummy.

Thankfully, we haven’t been posed with what I’m sure are the inevitable questions about how the baby is going to get out (yet!) but I think he ‘gets’ what’s going on, he is pretty perceptive.

Yesterday we were rolling around on the floor having a bit of a tickling session, and he got a bit boisterous so I said, ‘Mind the baby in Mammy’s tummy; be careful not to squash it too much.’

‘Can I see the baby?’ Ben asked, wide-eyed.

‘Not yet, ‘ I replied, ‘It’s still very, very small.’

‘But can the baby hear me?’ he wondered. ‘Can I talk to it?’

I said, ‘If you like…’

Without further ado he lifted up my t-shirt, but his face to my belly button and yelled, ‘HELLO BABY! MY NAME IS BEN!’

I laughed my head off; he seemed really keen to talk to his baby brother/sister.

Then he said, ‘Mammy, open your mouth wide.’ I dutifully obliged, only for him to peer inside and shout again, ‘HELLO? BABY? MY NAME IS BEN!!!’