This morning, driving to school:

Riley: “Why’s that guy going?”

Me: “Hm? What guy?”

Riley: “The guy in the song.”

I listen: Quasi is playing on KEXP, singing “I’m never coming back again, I’m never coming back again. You can’t close that door for forevermore, I’m never coming back again.”

Me: “I’m not sure, sweetie.”

Riley: “You’re not going, are you?”

Me: “What? Me? No, of course not.”

Riley: “And Daddy’s not going?”

Me: “No, no. This is just a song. Someone else wrote it.”

Riley: “You’re going to stay forever, right?”

Me: “Well. I’m going to be around for a long, long time.”

Riley: “And you and Daddy aren’t ever going to do like in the song.”

Me: “No, no. We would never leave you, ever. Never in a million years. We’re a family, right?”

Riley: “Yeah.”

Me: “And we stick together, right?”

Riley: “Right.”

Me: “Is there a reason you think we might leave?”

Riley: “No . . . it’s just that this song is kind of a sad song.”

Me: “Should we listen to a different song?”

Dylan: “PLAY RO MA MA? PLAY RO MA MA?”

Me: “Lady Gaga it is. Hey Riley?”

Riley: “What?”

Me: “I love you.”

Riley: “I love you too.”

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samantha jo campen
13 years ago

*clutches heart*

Oh Linda. Wow.

And that picture? IS YOUR FACE.

Eric's Mommy
Eric's Mommy
13 years ago

So sweet.

Riley looks just like you in that picture.

Eric loves Bad Romance too, I had to put it on my iPod for him.

Jinxi
13 years ago

Awwww…priceless!

Emily
13 years ago

Holy hell that’s the most adorable thing I’ve heard in a long long time. You are all too precious for words.

And I love that “RO MA MA” is Lady Gaga.

Cara
Cara
13 years ago

Wow – its always startling (and humbling) to realize what close attention kids pay. And, he’s right, that is kind of a sad song.

Kate
13 years ago

So sweet. Sometimes we all just need a little reassurance.

kalisa
13 years ago

Your kid? Is like a thousand years old.

Jennifer
Jennifer
13 years ago

That little puddle over there? Yes, that’s my heart. It just melted over reading that story.

Jane
Jane
13 years ago

Your sweet baby looks just like you .. what a little man he is!

Wendy
13 years ago

Sometimes, when I read things like that, I want to figure out a way to build an ever growing snuggli type device so I can carry my boy with me forever.

Obviously that is totally developmentally wrong and would wreck my back and is just weird, but sometimes…

marilyn
13 years ago

Annnnnd now I can’t stop crying. This is unbearably sweet.

Saw
Saw
13 years ago

It’s so sweet of Riley to make note of the song and worry about his family.
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and every time I read, you could always somehow in someway in some words make me laugh. But this time, I almost cried after finished reading this. It totally made my heart melt.

lisa
lisa
13 years ago

oh my god, he is too precious.

SJ
SJ
13 years ago

*sniff*

so sweet. and really, that picture just totally made it all that much more sweeter.

he does look like you. a lot!

Kristen
Kristen
13 years ago

Your kids make me want to have kids. Good thing too, since one is coming out in about a month.
Confidential to Dylan- Don’t be embarrassed about this Lady Gaga thing later on in life. We all love her, even if we deny it.

Lucy
Lucy
13 years ago

Oh that’s so lovely!

Kelley
Kelley
13 years ago

~ melt ~

MyFrogs
MyFrogs
13 years ago

The kids love the Gaga! A friend told me yesterday her son wanted to listen to the “burger face” song, poker face! Haha

willikat
13 years ago

He is such a sweet, sensitive little boy. What a man he is going to become.

Kami
Kami
13 years ago

He is so sweet, seriously.

Christine
Christine
13 years ago

Ack so sweet. I can’t believe they’ve gone and got so big… Dylan slays me.

Kirsten
13 years ago

And then your heart burst out of your chest and exploded into a million peices right? SIGH

ElizabethZ
ElizabethZ
13 years ago

What a great shot of Riley – so cute. And not a suspicious wrinkled brow to be found!

MichelleH
MichelleH
13 years ago

Aw, he is so sweet. When I was Riley’s age I used to cry whenever I heard “The Long and Winding Road”….something about “Don’t leave me waiting here…”

Those little ones are so fearless and so fragile all at once. My goodness what an awesome responsibility. So rewarding though..

Props to Dylan for lightening the mood with a little Lady Gaga :)

Kathryn
13 years ago

I tell my 19 month old “I love you” because I do and because I love to hear him say it back to me.

Amy
Amy
13 years ago

Wow. He looks so much like you in that picture.

sheilah
13 years ago

Awww…*sniff* got a tear in my eye…sweet little boy…

McKenna
McKenna
13 years ago

“Like” ;)

Anais
Anais
13 years ago

Your kids are just precious. Riley is very intelligent- how he actually listens to the lyrics of songs and understands them! I’ve never known a child as young as he is do that.

And Dylan loves Lady Gaga- how cute!!!

You’re so lucky, Linda. You’re a great mom, and your kids are fantastic.

Rachel
13 years ago

That is both very sweet and kind of sad. Poor kids, they are growing up in a tough world where people- kids!- are experiencing heartbreak and loss all the time. I’m so glad your little boys can grow up in a family that loves each other :)

lindsayc
lindsayc
13 years ago

My two year old loves Gaga – asks for her daily. Could be worse I figure :-).

Anna
Anna
13 years ago

Cute.

What is it with toddlers and Lady Gaga??!!?

My one knows ALL and I mean all the words to Bad Romance….

Belle
Belle
13 years ago

Oh, man, this was beautiful to read. And it had to be more beautiful to have actually experienced it. That’s gonna be one of those memories that will always stay with you, no matter how old he gets.

Claire
13 years ago

Awwww. It’s crazy what kids can pick up on, even when you don’t think they’re paying attention.

Ashley
13 years ago

What an awesome little dude :)
And he looks JUST like you in that picture!

Danell
13 years ago

So sweet. And Riley is, as always, movie-star adorable.

Sonia
Sonia
13 years ago

*Poof!* My heart just exploded.

Ashleas
Ashleas
13 years ago

Isn’t it amazing how kids can look like BOTH parents. When Riley’s not smiling and being suspicious, I see JB. When he’s all smiles, it’s ALL you. …I guess this means we can blame JB for his suspicious-ness. ness.

jonniker
13 years ago

Oh Linda.

All Adither
13 years ago

My kids like Bad Romance too. And, alarmingly, I can’t get it out of my own head.

gertie
gertie
13 years ago

Oh wow. I swear I’ve had this exact same conversation. I think I have the female versions of your children.

Lesley
Lesley
13 years ago

Gulp.

Excuse me, I have to dry my eyes.

Donna
Donna
13 years ago

I swear I couldn’t love your kids any more if they were my own.
Oh, Riley. If there were only a way to bottle that sweetness and keep it forever.
How did you drive after that? I wouldn’t have been able to see…..

Zoe
Zoe
13 years ago

Now that was just the sweetest… :)

Kaitlyn
13 years ago

What a sweet boy. But their fears of being abandoned are heartbreaking, aren’t they?

cakeburnette
cakeburnette
13 years ago

The Riley story is very sweet, but I can’t stop laughing over the fact your BABY LOVES GAGA! Sounds like something my kids did at that age. :) I have a friend who’s 3 y/o’s favorite song was “My Humps”–LOL

Andrea (@shutterbitch)
13 years ago

That’s so sweet! Must be in the air because I had a similar conversation with my son yesterday, too.

Love that Dylan loves Gaga.

Redbecca
Redbecca
13 years ago

Awwww…..adorable picture, too!

KKF
KKF
13 years ago

Best.
Rileypic.
Evarrrr!

Melissa
Melissa
13 years ago

This was perfect. Thanks for sharing, Linda.