I love the stage that Charlie is in. He’s so inquisitive but it goes beyond the gathering of facts. He is now drawing his own conclusions and observes situations independently, revealing more and more of his worldview and character. Recently, he was confused as to why I refused what seemed to him to be a brilliant idea of taking the Jesus cookie from the gingerbread nativity scene to school as a snack. That sparked a brilliant conversation about religion and being sensitive to other people’s views. We also have had great discussions with him about history of slavery. While we were in Tanzania, we drove along the beginnings of the “Trail of Tears” – the road where the slaves were gathered and forced to walk hundreds of miles to the coast in order to be put onto boats. His heart is still heavy with the thought of such injustice.

My favourite, though, was this week when my husband and I were enjoying a glass of wine with our dinner. Obviously, the subject of alcohol and responsible consumption came up. I said, “And you should never, ever, ever drink and drive.” Charlie’s shrugged and scoffed, “Of course you shouldn’t drink and drive. You might spill!”

He’s my son, through and through.