BFF

One night when I was reading books with Sawyer, he turned around and gave me a huge hug, looked me in the eye, and said: "You are my best friend, Mommy." I was feeling like the world's best mother until the next day when the teacher's aide in his classroom came up to me, absolutely smitten, and reported that Sawyer had declared her his best friend. Several days later he signed my babysitter Katie onto a lifetime contract with those same five words. Last weekend at the dinner table he brought my mother into the club. Sitting at the other end of the table, my slightly miffed father announced that Sawyer was out of the will. Today, it was little Tayloe Emery – a more age-appropriate best friend. Tayloe, however, was immune to Sawyer's proclamation. He just looked at him, shrugged and went on playing with his car. His mother, who heard Sawyer say this to her son several times, got all teary-eyed until I let the cat out of the bag: Sawyer's a BFF whore. At least he's not saying it to chicks at the checkout counter. He really does save it for people that he loves, and I think it's his way of telling people how important they are to him. So he hasn't quite figured out that the word "best" is singular, but I'm glad to see he's creating his own village of people that he loves and trusts. I personally think it's important to have multiple best friends. Each has their own specialties and contributions. Some are ballasts in the wind while others are the current that carries us forward. No, Sawyer, you can never have too many best friends. And, at the end of the day, it's always a good idea to have a backup plan.