He thinks he's fourteen.

The camos and tee. The toboggan cap over the long hair, despite the heat.... The snub of his mother's camera. I've been wondering over the "cool" look thing he hankers for, and the hipster cred he's so hip to.

My friend Deanna tells me to take it in stride and be grateful for a socially clued in child. And she is right, I think. The keen observation skills do not end at what's on the tee shirt or what kind of shoes are "right," but also carry over into noticing when an adult's help is needed, when someone's face reads hurt or upset, and being aware of what Rick Levoie calls the "hidden curriculum."

And so it is, on the last day of July in 2009 when the three year old boy snacks at the table, and declares that though his father wants to go out to supper to kick off the weekend, he prefers to stay home.