You wanna be a what?

Yesterday, Mark asked me how you become a sidekick. I had to think about that one.

"You mean, sidekick to a superhero?" I asked. (Hey, he's 11--these are the conversations we have!)

"No, like when you say, 'He's a sidekick,'" Mark answered unhelpfully.

"Um, well, I guess you just spend a lot of time around someone then," I said. "You know, like when you and Brandon hang out and do everything together, and it seems like you're joined at the hip. Then he's your sidekick."

"Huh," Mark said. He didn't like my answer, so he tried another tact.

"What about the sidekicks that can read your mind?" he asked. "How do you do that?"

Finally, the light when on in my head, and I started giggling. "Oh, a psychic," I said. "You want to be a psychic, not a sidekick!"

"Yeah, I wanna read people's minds," he said.

I explained it's a talent you're born with, but some people are better at it. When I told him he can already read minds, he scoffed at me.

"What about when you get in trouble?" I asked him. "Don't you know what I'm gonna say? How I'm gonna react to it?"

"Yeah, I always know what you're gonna say!" he said.

"Well, then you already have psychic abilities," I said. "Keep working on them!"

Mark nodded his head.

"Besides," I said, going back to the original coversation. "Who wants to be a sidekick anyway? They do the same amount of work as the superheroes, and don't get any of the credit. When's the last time you heard Robin get top billing over Batman? Who's gonna get excited to see a movie called, 'Robin'? Nobody!"

"Yeah!" Mark agreed. "I wanna read minds. I don't wanna work hard and get no credit."

"That's my boy!" I cheered. Hey, a kid's gotta have dreams, right?

So just be careful what you're thinking about the next time you see Mark--because he'll be eavesdropping on your thoughts.