The Lost Art of Saying What We Need

William NEEDS pizza pie!

I spoke to my daughter a few minutes ago and she was telling me about how she and her brother Josh took my grandson William to visit with their Grandma last night. She told me about all the cute things he did and said (he's almost 2 years old and has become a little chatterbox.) She mentioned that toward the end of the visit he was getting crabby and wanted to go home. He hadn't had a nap and it was starting to catch up with him.

She told me he started to say. "Need to get in car. Need to go to Will's house."

I love that. And when we were on our cruise last month I noticed he did the same thing. He'd say, "Need to (fill in the blank )" -- find Mom and Dad, go eat hot dog, find Chik car, get chocolate milk ...

I guess what I love is that at (almost) 2 years of age, Will knows what he needs. And he expresses that. I find myself marveling at this ability and wish it was something I could do more of. Somewhere along the way I have grown too polite or too concerned about making sure others needs are met to worry about my own.

How often I would love to say, "I need some help here" or "I need to go to bed" or "I need to eat something that is healthier than this." Or -- "I need to get out of here!"

I think what I really NEED is to start finding ways to express myself and say what I NEEDbetter!

Just saying.