“I’m Countless, Mom.”

“I’m countless, Mom!” My daughter, Lily, just told me this when I asked her to count the number of butterflies on a page in her workbook. The correct answer would have been five, but following directions is something my daughter is not fond of.

She has heard the word before, most likely from me when I was telling someone about countless possibilities of something. And like any five year old, she misinterpreted the word. When I asked her to explain her reasoning on how she is countless, she told me it’s because she is out of numbers and therefore cannot count.

Anything to get out of doing work. I’m usually meet with a yawn and her saying she is too tired to do something. In a way, it’s nice to see a new excuse.

What she doesn’t understand is she is going to be learning countless things throughout her life. She’s already learned countless things so far, like putting on shoes, counting to ten, walking, talking, and so much more. At the age of five, her mind is already learning and has already learned many things. She is a smart little girl. I have a feeling there will be a day when she is the one teaching me things.

So while she may be “countless” right now, she won’t be in the future. Soon she will be able to count all the way to 100, something she currently feels like is impossible. And, like I was with the workbook page, I will be there on the side cheering her on while she learns countless new things.

This post is in response to today’s Daily Prompt: Countless.