And to think, it only took four years

This year, I asked for a Nintendo DS for my birthday. J.R. and I can only play card games so many times on those trips to the beach.

Noah is slightly jealous. At four, he hasn't yet graduated from the Leapster to a DS. He covets his brother's DS, and so I agreed to occasionally share my Mario Brothers with him.

Today, he asked to play the "puzzle" game on my DS. After insisting that I don't have a puzzle game, he sorted through the case to find exactly the one he was talking about.

He produced my crossword game. "This puzzle game, Mommy."

I explained to him that he needed to be able to read and spell in order to play that game and that C-A-T, D-O-G, and M-O-M don't count.

He ran from the kitchen to the family room, threw himself in the chair and mumbled into the cushion. Naturally, I completely ignored the tantrum.

Until he looked me square in the eyes and said, "I wanted to play DS." Long pause. "You ruined my life."

Which, to be honest, is a huge weight off my shoulders. I mean, my calendar for the next fourteen years has really opened up now that that's off my to-do list.