Corporate Seminars for Preschoolers

This week I was able to drive two hours to see my friend Jenne! She normally lives, oh, maybe seven hours' drive or a short flight from my house, so to be able to drive only two hours to sit in person with her sent me packing up for a road trip. The Boy and I stuffed some snacks into lunch boxes, piled books and activities into a blue laundry basket for easy access to preschool hands, voted, and then headed out on our trek.

The Boy travels well, quietly sitting behind me flipping pages in a book, pondering the billboards, listening to music or a book on tape, and playing his sister's Gameboy. So even when we were driving Jenne to the airport, he rarely interrupted.

We stopped for a Wendy's snack. I ordered a Sprite for The Boy, expecting a small. In a Starbucks-inspired move, they gave me a large. "I thought I ordered a small," I said to Jenne.

"Maybe you just said 'a Sprite,' but didn't say small and she just automatically gave you this," she suggested.

"That's probably it. Man, that's a lot of Sprite for a little boy."

The Boy sipped his drink, tilting the huge yellow cup in order to access the straw, spilling a little. Jenne recovered it before the entire thing poured out onto his jeans.

As we munched our fries, she and I talked about her work as a consultant, instructor and corporate trainer. In the midst of a larger discussion, she made the statement, "Small is the new big."

From the back seat, after hours of silence, The Boy spoke up in a tone of astonishment. "Small is big?"

Jenne turned to make eye contact with him. "You bet it is," she said, "Small is the new big. And don't let anyone try to tell you it isn't."

He smiled and nodded, pleased to get the inside scoop.

Hours later, as we neared home, The Boy and I were discussing dinner. "Next time we go to Wendy's," he began, "you should order a large Sprite. Then they'll give you a small. Because today you ordered a small and they gave you a large."

"It's funny, isn't it?" I commented.

"It's just like Jenne said," he observed, "'Small is big.'"