Cardboard Flight

Most of the time my eight year old seems so much older than his actual age. Its the curse (blessing?) of having two older brothers that he trails after on a regular basis. He hangs out with their older friends, plays their older kid video games, and sometimes watches their older kid movies. He has seen very few of the Disney classics that used to be a staple in our household.

So when he occasionally does 'little boy' things, it warms my heart. I got a shipment of summer shirts in the mail recently and he snatched up the empty shipping box that sat by the kitchen trash can. A bit of tape and a few cuts with scissors and suddenly it was a space ship. He holds it up from the bottom and flies around the house. When he is not in flight, it sits by the bookcase, looking like trash that we haven't gotten around to throwing out.

I will treasure this picture for years to come. For all the shots I get of him looking way too old, in this one he seems exactly the right age. All too soon he will retire the cardboard spaceship and fly off to bigger adventures. And the space ship will go back to being cardboard in the trash.