"Mama, go away!"

All my girlfriends, my husband, and my parents who have heard me lament for the last year that John will not play by himself are welcome to tease me now. The child who won't play by himself for more than five minutes has begun saying, "Mama, go away."

John started asking me to go away within the last week. The first time, I was aghast into silence. He's not trying to be rude. He hasn't even said it in anger, but is saying it in a sweet tone of voice. It's just that at two years old, he lacks the social finesse to get some space for himself without sounding rude.

When he's asked me to go away, I've tried to give him his space while I spy on him from the other room. Generally, he has just wanted to play by himself rather than get into mischief. He's also experimenting with where and when I'll leave him, asking often during our shopping trips for me to go away while we're in the grocery aisle.

The other day he did the same to Chris and Chris called his bluff. The boys were at a play ground and John was pretending to be a fireman sliding down the pole. He asked Daddy to go back to the house to retrieve his fireman's hat. Chris suggested that he do just that, but then wouldn't you be left here all alone? John thought about that idea seriously and decided it was not a good idea.

At least there are some boundaries to this "go away" thing. All I know is that I'm going to go away now and have a good sniffly cry over my big boy.