I am home after a long day to end a long week. Swee’Pea and TheMonk are finishing dinner and soon we begin playing in the play room. We pull the cushions off the couch and soon we are jumping and rolling on the cushions.

There is lots of laughter preceded by tickling armpits and raspberries on bellies. There is lots of jumping and making funny noises – from TheMonk and Swee’Pea too.

All this rough-housing tires me out and I plop onto my belly on one of the cushions on the ground. A second later, Swee’Pea plops down right next to me and we lay there with our faces turned to the side, facing each other.

We are silent for a moment as we look into each other’s eyes. Swee’Pea breaks the silence with the sweetest words ever heard.

“Daddy, you’re my best friend.” She says, in her little two-year-old voice.

“I am, Swee’Pea?” I reply. “You’re my best friend too.”

Suddenly, she hears TheMonk nearby and tells me, “TheMonk is my best friend too.”

Now, she’s on a roll and suddenly she remembers all the best friends she has in the world.

“And Mommy’s my best friend… And Grandmother’s my best friend… And Maya and Danica and Mark and Elaine are my best friends too.” she says, throwing in the kids who live on our street.

She goes on to name all the kids she plays with in daycare, who also happen to be her best friend. I half expect her to start naming everyone she’s ever come in contact with, including the nurse who administers her shots. I’m beginning to feel that maybe the special friendship I thought we shared wasn’t so special after all.

Oh well, at least I made the list.