Hugs are okay, until ....

Biscuit has always been a lovey-dovey boy. And I've always loved it.

Except ...

Sometimes he picks the most inopportune times to grab me into a hug. Like when we're in the grocery store or getting other shopping done. I like to shop, but when I'm getting groceries and household stuff, I want to get it done as quickly as possible. And it's hard to do that when you've got a kid invading your space.

So last weekend, Biscuit crawled into bed between Jeff and me, and we had some cuddle and talk time. Jeff is usually still asleep, but Biscuit and I have had some pretty good talks on those mornings.

"Mom," he asked, "can I hug you?"

"Of course you can," I told him.

"Anytime I want?" he asked. And I just looked at him and smiled. "Anytime except in the grocery store?"

And we laughed about it.

"I love hugging you anytime you'll hug me, dude," I told him. "Sometimes I get in a hurry trying to get stuff done, but I don't want you to ever think that I don't like hugging you."

"Okay," he said.

"One day, I'm not going to be cool anymore, and you won't want me to hug you as much," I told him.

And then he said something that made me laugh out loud.

"From what I understand ..." he said. From what I understand? Like he's read a book on the subject!

"From what I understand," he said, "you can hug me anytime you want until I'm in middle school. Then, you can only hug me at home."

"Oh, okay," I told him. "I'm glad to know the rules. I'll try to get in as many hugs as I can until then."