By Rick Kaempfer
My middle son Johnny is 10 years old, but he speaks about life like someone who has seen it all. He's just wired that way--he's always been an old soul.
The day he turned 5, as I put him to bed, he muttered: "I never thought this day would come."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Just yesterday I was four," he said. "And now..." He was getting choked up, just thinking about the implications. "And now I can't play at the mall playground anymore. The sign says 'For kids under 5."
He had that "my life is passing me by" look in his eyes.
When his younger brother Sean started pre-school, I overheard Johnny counseling him in their room one night.
"These are the best years of your life," he told him. "It's all playing all the time in pre-school. Tons of toys, and nothing but playing. Once you get to kindergarten, the fun ends."
Again, he was totally serious.
The other day we were at the doctor's office, and the doctor asked Johnny how old he was. He answered: "I'm three years away from being a teenager."
The doctor laughed and said "I guess you're really looking forward to it."
"No," he said sadly. "It's going to be here before you know it. This decade has gone by like this."
And he snapped his fingers.
Did I mention he was 10?
