What nonsense am I speaking about? Do I really think my child is no longer cute? Well yes

And no… He is my child he is the most attractive kid ever since ever. He has the curliest hair and biggest eyes and most perfect skin(we all think our kids are beautiful it’s ingrained in our subconscious. We are in awe of them  – then sometimes we see photos of them when they were younger and realise we were wearing “mom goggles” – so you would be hard pressed to find a parent who didn’t think their kid was beautiful. In fact your mom probably still thinks your grownup  self is sooo beautiful) . But this isn’t about attractiveness NOPE this is about that Awwww factor babies have and let’s face it my child is no longer cute….

He is 4. And I think of 4 to 5  like the puberty of preschoolers. They are all big heads dangly limbs and weird high pitched voices. He reminds me of the little girl on My wife and kids staring Damon Wayans, she kept trying to be cute and it was cringy… Down right annoying.

Aidan is the eldest of three boys (we call them siblings from siblings because although they are cousins they spend most of their time together and are brought up like brothers in a lot of ways)  2 year old Caleb with his long wavy hair, racially ambiguous looks and advanced vocabulary stops people in their tracks,they go googly eyed and gush over his cuteness. Then there is Liam with his giant eyes, hipster bun and that 9 month old, “look at me being a cute baby” antics (trying to stand, playing peekaboo and clapping hands) who has people threatening to steal him all the time (BTW this is weird stop it) .

When I say my child is no longer cute . I mean he is lanky and awkward. Not quite a big kid  definitely  not a baby. He asks questions beyond his years which makes people uncomfortable and because he looks and acts older than his 4 years and 6 months he gets dirty looks for the same things his cousins get pats on the back for.

If he gets cranky he gets called naughty while the others are just tired. He wants to do something silly like play with the toys in the shop he is ill mannered while the others are curious.

It’s interesting. Especially since I am the eldest of all gran kids on both sides of the family and remember too well when the novelty wore off on me. I was 4 (Hahahaha) and my cousin was born.

I think that’s why I’m careful of what I say to kids and how I talk about kids in front of them….

Anyway what’s my point? My point is that my child is no longer cute he is so much more.

He is funny “what do you call a cow that quacks? A rediculous cow”
He is smart “I think Africa is too hot that’s why we hardly have snow, the snow melts and becomes raindrops instead of snowflakes”
He is cocky “Caleb: I love you Aidan. Aidan: and I like you”
He is ambitious “do you think I could be a doctor and an engineer one day? I want to do both.”
He is sweet “I’m glad that God decided to give me to you, that was nice of him”

It is a weird transition this; “no longer a baby” thing, but it’s so amazing. It’s so eye opening so heart warming.

I’m overwhelmed by his spirit and in love with that adorable face. Yes I wish people would stop ignoring him when it’s the three kids together,I wish they would ask him his name as well. I wish they could stop treating him like Cinderella (to his face) but on all other counts I could not be more proud.

He instinctively stands up for his cousins at every opportunity. He shields them from strangers by standing ever so slightly in front of them. He is not afraid of telling people “Caleb is shy don’t force him to talk and Liam doesn’t like strangers touching him” he is fearless in his love for them and that Is cute as heck!

Yes I know it’s inevitable. Nobody is cute forever that would be soooo creepy but guys next time you see two or more cousins/siblings/friends together and you find one ridiculously adorable can you make some eye contact with the other one too please cause they might not be “cute” but they notice