The Mine phase!

So I am taking my son into day care today and as we get to his room they are eating cheerios. My son quickly runs to his seat to chow down on some cheerios and milk, when one of his teachers says to him "Ben, tell daddy bye!". He gets up from his seat and says "I want to give you a hug and a kiss daddy!", which that in and of itself is enough to make your heart melt. At that same time 3 other kids get up to tell me bye and try to give me a hug as well...sounds odd but happens a lot in this class. At this point my son grabs my neck in his little arms and yells "NO, MY DADDY!!!", puts his mouth up to my ear and says "I love you daddy.". It makes me tear up thinking just how sweet that is...but it also got me to thinking that we start at such an early age laying ownership on the things we care about. He is only 2 and has a fairly clear idea as to what is his and what isn't. I am definitely HIS daddy and not everybody else daddy, and not to be shared. So as he goes back to his seat I give the other 3 kids hi-fives and tell them bye too. And my son can rest easy in the fact that he has established "ownership" of his father to the other kids in the class, and those two rooms down...he's a loud kid. At the end of the day I love my son and i love being a dad!