"I want to go to Florida"

This will be a short post, because that's all he had to say yesterday. When I went to pick him up, all the teachers and kids asked me why he wants to go to Florida. Then John got up from one teacher's lap and came over to me. He smiled, and told me he wanted to go to Florida. When I explained that we were not, in fact, going to Florida, the smile faded.

All the way home, he wanted to go to Florida. I offered Virginia instead, but he declined. We saw Mom at home, and he tried his request on her. No dice.

So, what's in Florida that sparked his interest? A pool, apparently. Joyce's parents were here visiting, and John had a good time, since these were nice adults who didn't tell him No or make him go to bed. He learned, as all kids do, that Mom and Dad = no fun, but Grandparents = fun. However, upon leaving, the grandparents departed from the script (which, as with so many transitions, has to be carefully managed in John's case) and mentioned that they had a pool at home. Now, for the first 3 years of his life, John looked at a pool the way you or I might look at, say, a vat of battery acid. This summer, though, we had a breakthrough with the pool, thanks in large part to the folks at day care. So, it was with sadness that we saw the pools in town close after Labor Day.

So, now, we're going to Florida "soon." Of course, "soon" is probably several months in this case, but he doesn't know the difference. However, he's working on it. He asked me last night "Is it 'soon' yet?"