His Name is Benihana

I am greeted everyday, at least once a day with my darling two-year-old professing that I am his best friend. Nobody else. Just him. It's absolutely priceless. Sometimes daddy gets thrown in as an extra and the three of us dance around as only best friends can. (Yes, D and I know that we won't always be his best friend, so we are truly treasuring these moments.) On occasion, another child might be a best friend for a day, but mommy and daddy reign supreme in the kingdom of best friends.

Now, I think I've mentioned in an earlier post that K has taken on wanting to have conversations at bedtime as a diversion to going to bed. Tonight, alas, was no different. He wanted to tell me all about his day. I entertain this for a little bit, asking questions and engaging in conversation. Then, K decided to tell me about one of the friend's he played with today. At first, when he said his name I thought I just hadn't heard clearly (while my son is amazingly articulate for a two-year-old, he still is just a two-year-old.) So, I asked him what his friends name was. "Benihana." He said, looking at me very seriously.

Well, I'm sorry, I absolutely lost it. I couldn't suppress the laughter. (I am well aware of the children in his class and confidently know that none of them have that name.) Now, K has eaten at Benihana twice in his life, but it hasn't been for at least a year ... so for him to pull it from that would be amazing. So, I asked more questions about Benny ... what he looked like. K informed me that his clothes looked like mine. But he had hair like his.

Since D was upstairs, I had to call him in. K began to tell him about his friend Benihana. Well, D started to laugh as well. K clearly felt like we were all in the joke together because then he began to laugh as well. As I type this, I'm not sure if my son has a new imaginary best friend, whom he chose to name after a chain of restaurants or if there's some new kid I'm not aware of in class who perhaps has this first name. However, I have gotten out the laughs and am prepared to welcome Benihana into my evenings for more tales of silliness at school.