Reality Check

As I sat with a book in my favorite reading spot the other day, Handsome Boy bopped noisily into the room. I looked up to find him inches from the couch, gazing intently at me. His usual impish grin was replaced by lips set in a firm, thin line.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?" 

"There's something wrong with that song - Row, Row, Row Your Boat."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "Life. Is not. A dream." Then, leaning in until our noses were practically touching, he intoned, "It's real."

He stared at me for a few seconds more, eyes wide and head nodding gravely. Then he turned and bopped back out of the room.