"so why do you still call me 3??"

Carson has been wanting to grow up desperately so that he can join the big guys in football and basketball. One day after being told he couldn't play basketball with Daniel and Josh, he came to me more than a little frustrated.
"mom," he began with a frown on his face and determination in his voice,
"Every day I try so hard to be a big boy. I clean my room, I do my work. I eat my food and drink my water. And every day when I go to Ikea, they tell me at the playplace that I am getting so big, and getting to be a big boy. SO WHY DO YOU STILL CALL ME THREE???"
I tried hard not to laugh straight in his face, and explained that three years old lasts for an entire year which is a long time. I explained that he is almost four, and that he is getting to be very big and he is doing well with his chores. He wasn't satisfied.
He asked again why I was always going to call him three, and reminded me again that he was doing his best to grow up, and then proceeded to sit down at the piano and compose a song.
He played a few notes low, and then a few notes high. he started by singing about how the trees change, how the leaves change, about swimming in his pool, and now its too cold to do that too. He sang about how if he could change "something into something else" then he would be really big and grown up. He sang "I could let you play my tuba, yeah yeah, I could let you play my trombone, yeah yeah. but its really big, yeah yeah, and it has lots of buttons. You have to be strong to play it, yeah yeah"
he sang about the shows that he likes and dislikes on TV, and when he was finished, he got up and asked to go outside like nothing had happened.
he's my little minstrel I guess- with a good touch on the piano, and a great head for lyrics-and I still call him three.