The Best Secret Ever, A Secret Re-Defined

I was talking on the phone with my sister while Matthew was upstairs with his Daddy in the computer room. He knew I was on the phone, and since he always wants to talk to the people I’m talking to, he eventually picked up the phone.

"Hi," he said.
"I am fantastic," he added, answering my sister.
"I have to tell you something—Daddy is making a card for Mommy for Christmas, a photo of me," he told her (it was Ukrainian Christmas today). Meanwhile, Daddy, in the background, was telling Matthew that it was a secret.
"It’s a secret! Daddy is making a photo of me for Mommy," Matthew continued.
"Mommy, it’s a secret! Don’t tell anyone," he added, running over to me after the phone call.

"Matthew, that’s the best secret! I won’t tell anyone," I replied.

Matthew hung up the phone, but came back a couple of seconds later.
"And I’m secretly Superman, okay, I got to go now. Bye-bye!" And that was it.

The News Guy

Toys, toys everywhere. We live in toy land. We don’t have a big house, so containing a child in one small space full of toys is tough. We gave in and let it be.

This Christmas, we treated ourselves to a new television, a flat screen. It was time to retire the old beast. We strapped the new TV onto a stand, but with all the stories about TVs falling on children, we continue to remind Matthew that it’s dangerous to hover around it.

The other day, for whatever reason, Matthew ran toward the TV with his toy. As we needed a moment to scratch our heads, I raised my voice to stop him from going any further. Matthew got a little shy. I gave him a serious look but then lowered my tone to explain again.

"Matthew, you don’t want to fall into the TV," I said, for whatever reason.
"And yeah, I don’t want to be a news guy, too," he replied, laughing.

"Come here, you joker. I need to give you a hug and a kiss," I said, opening up my arms.