My Little Entrepreneur

I love watching episodes of Olivia (you know that cute pig that's always dreaming big things--like staring her own pet wash or becoming the world's greatest scientist...)

Little Lewie doesn't watch this cartoon as much these days, but he's just like her (except he's human and a boy).  My son rarely sleeps beyond 8 hours per night, and every morning, he wakes up with this new found excitement to start the day.  Last week, he claimed his art teacher called him "Artist of the Month" (I'm yet to confirm this), and so he made it his mission to create his very first train book over the weekend, complete with very special train illustrations.  After all, as Artist of the Month, he must be busy showing off his drawing talents.

Before this, he requested that Santa Claus buy me a barn to put in back of the house so that we could begin setting up our model railroad collections.  (We only have one--our Lionel Polar Express), but Lewie would like to have a model railroad train collection just like you see at museums. 
    
Lewie:  "Mommy, you can ask Santa for a barn, and then we can set up our trains, and we can charge everyone $3 to come see them.  Isn't that a good idea Mommy?"

Me:  "Lewie, Santa doesn't get me anything for Christmas anymore.  I'm too big.  I'm an adult.  He only buys for you.  Besides, Santa can only afford to get small gifts for little boys and girls.  He can't give someone a barn.  He'd go broke."

Lewie:  "Well, I saw a commercial Mommy where Santa bought someone a car for Christmas."

Me:  "Well that's not real life Lewie.  That's pretend..."

Probably my favorite moment this month came when we decided to go to a hibachi restaurant to celebrate my friend's 40th birthday.  At first, I saw it as a date night opportunity with hubby, but then I thought it might be fun to have Little Lewie come along too.

Well, let me just say that the hibachi grill was a huge hit!  Lewie was in awe of everything--the roaring flames, the spatula tricks, the chef's jokes.  As the chef was making creative designs with our food, Lewie used the opportunity to make creative designs with the rice and vegetables he had on his own plate too.  Then my son proceeded to tell us how he owns his own restaurant just like this one and that he's an awesome "cooker" too.

Lewie sitting in front of the hibachi grill.

Lewie and our hibachi chef.   Lewie kept saying, "I love this guy!"

My husband, friends, and I couldn't stop laughing.  Even the hibachi chef was genuinely touched that my son wanted to emulate him.  By the end of the night, Lewie decided he was going to own his own hibachi restaurant.  It would have trains running in the background (of course), and it would serve all the food that he loves--pancakes, French toast, sausages, bacon, etc.

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Yes, just like Olivia, my son has one grand imagination...  It makes me wonder what he'll eventually do when he grows up, but then again, I'm not quite so sure my husband and I have that figured out yet either....  Ahhh, to dream!