“Me like YOU and YOU,” Gideon said to his mother and me.

“Awww, that’s so sweet, Gideon.” His mother gave him a gentle hug.

“Yeah…” he smiled back and forth between the two of us. “Me like Daddy when he play games with me on the COMPUTER!” he bowed towards me. “And me like Momma…” he tilted in her direction and trailed off, obviously thinking hard about what he was going to say next.

We waited. He was frozen still leaning her direction, somewhat frantic eyes turned up at the ceiling. He had walked right into his own trap and we were not about to help him out of it.

“Yes Gideon?” Andrea said sweetly.

“Um…” he stammered. “Me like… Momma when… she…” He gulped. Then suddenly his mushy little brain found the answer and he lit up like a candle. “Oh! Me like Momma when she teach math to Clara and Lydia!”

He threw his arms around his mother’s waist again and squeezed.

“Oh really?” we said incredulously.

“Yeah.” His face was still buried in his mother’s skirt. “That’s when me get to play with toys all by myself.”

Andrea and I nodded at each other in agreement. Yes, we are, in fact, winning at parenting and our son has already learned to love both of us for all of the right reasons.