Last night my husband, kids and I made the yearly trek to downtown Jefferson City to watch the fireworks. We have the whole evening down pat. We show up at about 8:00 o'clock to stake out our favorite spot in the Governor's Gardens. It has a good view of the fireworks, and there are plenty of open spaces for the kids to run around blowing off steam before the show begins at 9:30.
A lot of other parents must feel the same way, because it is always teeming with kids. This time a bunch of boys were organizing a game of freeze tag. My 10-year old son usually hangs back and watches, but for the first time he wanted to play with the other kids. Polite as he is, he knew he should ask before he joined, but he was very shy about the whole thing.
His solution? Get his 6-year old sister to ask. "Maggie, can you go ask that boy if we can play with him?"
"Elijah, I don't want to play. You ask."
"I'm too nervous."
Maggie gives him a look, then in a rare display of sisterly love, she goes and asks the boy anyway. "Can my brother play tag with you? He wants to join." I see the boy nod his head from a distance, and Maggie walks back toward us.
"Elijah, he said you could play." Relieved, Elijah takes off and joins the game.
Looking at her father and me, Maggie says, "They grow up so fast, don't they?"
