Who's Your Leader?

At the top of a mountain, my boys and a ten year old friend could not be bothered to stop when offered a tuna sandwich. Food in hand, they set off "scouting" the trails about while I curled up on a wooden bench with my lunch, the dog and a view. East, west, north and south, their voices drifted back to me on the wind as they flirted with poison ivy, brush piles and steep slopes.

Returning for a drink, five year old Sam exhaled deeply as he set down the water bottle hard. "Are you the leader, Mom?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, matter-of-factly.

"How can you tell?" he asked.

"Because I have the band-aids."