Transformed

My four-year-old son Alex loves Transformers. He loves everything about them – the movies, the games, the action figures – you name it. If it has Transformers on it, he wants it.

We watch the movies together, we do the puzzles together and, of course, we get down on the floor and play with the action figures together. I have to admit, Daddy is much better at this game than I am. And my son is quick to correct me if I call a Decepticon by an Autobot name or, heaven forbid, forget that Optimus Prime is the leader of the good guys.

One day we were playing and he asked if he could have an ice cream cone. While I went to scoop the ice cream, I asked him to pick up a couple of toys – specifically one dinosaur and one truck. It seemed an innocent enough request, given the fact that I was dishing up a pretty tasty treat.

Then, it happened.

I really shouldn’t have been surprised.

He transformed.

My sweet, loving, son transformed into a whining, Lazy-bot of some sort. Gone were the hugs-for-no-reason, the “I love you mommy” in the middle of the day. In its place was an alien creature whose language consisted only of an endless loop of “I can’t”, “I don’t want to”, and “I’m too tired”.

Now, my son is not stupid. Nor is he lazy. He’s actually quite clever and – if I do say so myself – brilliant. He is quick thinking and never ceases to amaze me with the workings of his little mind. Here’s how the conversation went:

Mommy: Alex, while I get your ice cream cone, why don’t you put away those toys.

Alex: [throwing himself on the floor, whining] I can’t!

Mommy: Alex, you only have one dinosaur and one truck to put away. Please do that while I’m getting your ice cream.

Alex: [now rolling around the floor, angry and whining] I can’t! My hand hurts!

Mommy: Well, if your hand hurts, I guess you won’t be able to hold your ice cream cone.

Alex: [now crying, angry and whining] No! This [pointing to his left hand] is my cleaning-up-toys hand and this [pointing to his right] is my eating-ice-cream hand!

Once we stopped laughing (by now, he was laughing too), I gave him a big hug … and his ice cream cone. As it turns out, laughter is the key to transforming back into a human boy. In that moment, I was reminded just how sweet, innocent and, yes, brilliant, he really is.