A while ago, I wrote about the “I Love You Bigger” game. My youngest child Luke (age 5) and I play the game every now and then. I begin by saying, “I love you bigger than a tree,” and he would replies with something like, “I love you bigger than a house.” Throughout the game I try to choose larger and larger objects, although he often just chooses whatever comes to mind first.

The other night, while we were snuggling on the couch watching television, Luke started our game again. I was surprised, because we hadn’t played it for a while.

“Mom, I love you more than….” He paused. “….more than …vegetables!”

Now, I know Luke does not like vegetables, and I wondered just where this was going. So I said, “I love you more than…kitty litter.”

Luke smiled and thought for a moment. “I love you more than garbage.”

“Ooooo,” I said. “That’s a tough one to beat. I love you more than a squished bug.”

“Oooo,” he repeated. “Well, I love you more than… blood on a dead bird.” Okay, now I’m beginning to wonder what he and his sisters have been looking at outside.

“That’s gross!” I exclaimed. “I love you more than… a dried up worm.”

Luke was quiet for just a minute. “Well, I love you more than a dead fox.”  I wasn’t sure why we were focusing on road kill, but he soon came back with another one. “And I love you more than a giant beetle.”

I took that one. “I’m so glad!” I said as we laughed, and we went back to watching the show.

Then he laughed again. “Now you can put that on Facebook!” he said.

“You’re right!” I answered. Ah well — my little boy is growing up!