Will you be my friend?

Maybe my corporate life has bled a little too far into my personal life. After we got home from school and the kids were rummaging through their book bags to find their homework, Prince brings me a handwritten form.

When I inquire our little man responds, "I told my friend, Alex that this was all of the information that you require in order for me to spend the night. We are best friends and I really want to go to his house. And don't worry mom, I went ahead and wrote out a list of all the rules that I have to follow while I am at his house because he is one of those kids that says shut up. He knows I can't say that. And I can't watch movies or games that have blood. He is ok with that."

In thirty years we have gone from "Will you be my friend. Check yes, no, maybe" to "I am going to need you to fill out and submit form 1015 BMF." And if that friendship requires an over night visit, I will need subsequent form 1020 ONP and that needs to be authorized by your people and my people. I will see you in a month.

What next? I can just see Prince conducting Six Sigma projects to figure out which of his little friends uses their playtime most efficiently.

On the one hand, I am so proud that he has taken such initiative and really thought through eliminating any road blocks to his goal, but I am going to go out on a limb here and say MAYBE I need to loosen the reigns a little.