forward thinking

i had a crisis of conscience a few weeks ago. there was a group of us assembled down on the beach at our family reunion, and somehow the topic of ages came up. i must have been talking to my pregnant cousin, because i mentioned how i was 29 when liam was born. i had actually forgotten liam was even there, as he had been silently sucking on a lollipop for the duration of this boring adult conversation. but, as with most people, his ears perked up as soon as he heard his name. i could almost see his wheels turning, processing this information, which made no sense to him. (i had been stuck permanently on 25 -- according to what i told him -- until my most recent birthday, when he deduced that i must be 25 no longer. so since last december, he has believed me to be 26.) he immediately withdrew his lollipop from his mouth, quite perplexed. "mommy," he asked me, furrowing his brow, "how do you have a backwards birthday?" so . . . i 'fessed up, and admitted to our son that i am really, truly, 34. of course, chris was quick to jump in, elated to point out to liam that mommy is the OLDEST person in our family of four. (i explained that i am only 60 days his senior, which hardly counts, although our birth years are different, which is a hard pill to swallow every time i'm filling out any kind of formal paperwork. sigh.) but i have to say that it does feel good to have finally come clean. what started as a benign joke had, as liam's math skills developed, become quite the conundrum. he seemed okay with it, and immediately resumed sucking on that lollipop. and then i laughed, loving the terminology he had invented. a backwards birthday.