Loose Teeth & Boyfriends

A while back I read someone's weekly column ranting against all the mothers out there on cell phones while ignoring their children in the backseat. The author was of the opinion that valuable time with children was being wasted while on the road. I agreed and since then have tried to ignore my cell phone while in the car with my kids. I've done pretty well, and as a result, I have the following interesting conversation to share, occurring on the drive home after school today:

Daughter: "I miss Roman"
me: "You just spent all day with Roman."
Squareboy: "Roman is your boyfriend" in that tone. You know the tone. I try to jump in to explain boyfriends vs. boyfriend. But daughter beat me to the punch.

Daughter: "Fine. Roman is my boyfriend. I admit it." The kid is FOUR! "I'll say it. I love Roman." I mutter something about how loving people is wonderful and makes for a life of happiness, blah, blah, blah. All the while wondering if I've gone wrong somewhere. In the meantime daughter is asking if I know Roman's phone number and can he come play at the park with us. Of course I have his number and of course I'll call his mom.

Daughter: "Great! Roman and I can have a date!"

Squareboy had lost interest in this conversation way back at the beginning and asks if I know how many loose teeth he has. I acknowledge that I know he has one loose tooth. At this point daughter butts in with the opinion that Squareboy needs braces. His teeth are a little crooked with all the gaps from previous loose teeth so I get her point. Then she announces that the brothers tried to pull Squareboy's teeth out with string and a door. Just remembering makes her tear up because Squareboy had, gasp, blood! Squareboy cackles maniacally and notes that daughter will be a mess when she loses her teeth. This is true. The girl has a serious blood phobia. She's still teary-eyed at poor Squareboy's bloody teeth weeks ago as we pull up to the house. It's too bad we don't live farther from school, I wonder what was next on their conversation agenda.

I still don't know how many loose teeth Squareboy has.