These Are The Moments We All Wish For

"Mommy, when I grow up, can we still be friends?"

That was the question uttered by Aiden this past weekend. We were walking hand-in-hand, heading to Central Park. We were talking about random things -- Aiden's upcoming birthday, what he thought his friends were doing over the weekend, when he'll be able to go back to summer camp, Halloween, superheroes. Anything. Everything.

Aiden and I always talk about random things and our conversations are mostly led by him. Those random talks... it's actually one of the best parts of my day.

There's no agenda -- just what he wants to talk about, what's important to him, what's on his mind. It helps me get to know him better, connect with him on a deeper level, and be totally engrossed in his world. Without interruptions. Without distractions. With lots of smiles. And lots of laughter.

No matter what happens before or after those moments -- meltdowns, tantrums, power struggles, you name it -- those moments are exactly the ones that I live for in this single mom life.

They are precious.

They are sacred.

They are everything.

It's great that those moments lead Aiden to associate the things that we do together with the things he'd do with his friends -- talk, laugh, tell jokes, smell the roses, enjoy life.

In those moments, he thinks I'm cool enough to be his friend, and that's a great feeling. There may come a point where Aiden no longer thinks I'm the coolest person in the world. There may come a point where his peers are an influential factor in his life. But, I'll always have this conversation tucked away in my memory. I'm bottling it up and holding on to it. Forever.

Sweetest little boy, we most certainly can still be friends when you grow up. Yes! A million times, yes.