Andy and Brady have recently grown interested in presidents. It’s nothing outrageous, but the idea of one man being “in charge of” the whole country is intriguing to them. (Nate loves all things presidential, too, so this could be part of it.) Anyway, the boys have a placemat with presidents on it and they often ask questions about different ones. They like that Geroge Washington was first and that we now have another George. Somehow the matching set makes it fun for them.

This morning the boys and I were watching the news. The anchor was explaining how George W. Bush was at the G8 Summit, so a small photo of President Bush was in the upper right hand corner of the screen. They hadn’t said his name — just “the President” — so I asked, “Who’s that guy?”

Andy piped up first, “George Washington.” He was just sure of it.

I corrected him and he said, “Oh, yeah… The other George.”

So I reminded him, “George Washington was the first president of the United States… a long, long time ago. More than 200 years ago!”

This sparked Brady’s interest. “Like when you and Daddy were little?”

Gulp! I tried not to laugh. He’s only four and all of his siblings have been born under one president! So, I explained it the best way I could think of that he might understand. “No, Brades. No one we know now was alive when George Washington was president. He was alive way before even Nana and Poppy were born.”

“Oh,” he said. “That’s a really, really, REALLY long time ago!”