“You know what my favorite song is?” Max asked Sister #2. She had come over to pick up her children. I had been babysitting for like an hour.
“Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long?” Sister #2 sang. For the last few weeks, after seeing “Cars,” this had been Max’s favorite song.
“No,” he said.
“I’m lost in the supermarket, I can no longer shop happily,” I sang, picking the Ben Folds’ cover of the Clash from “Over the Hedge.” Max seems to only love songs from movies he has seen and Cake. He went through a stage for awhile where we could only listen to Cake’s cover of “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town” and “The Distance” whenever we got into Ruby.
“Good one Aunt Jodi, but no.”

Sister #2 and I stopped guessing and stared at him.

“Are you going to tell us?” she asked.

Meanwhile, Princess Jaycie is walking around on her knees, holding her feet behind her butt and singing Hannah Montana songs.

“Be quiet Jaycie,” Max said. “That’s not my favorite song.”
“What is it Max?” I asked.

At this point he jumps off his mom’s lap and throws his arms straight up, flapping his hands above his head and starts to sing. “It’s the end of the world as we know it. It’s the end of the world as we know it. It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!”

“That’s great it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, and aeroplanes, Lenny Bruce is not afraid,” I sang to him.

“THAT’S THE ONE!” he shouted. “I knew Aunt Jodi would know it.”

My sister’s lips curled up in a sneer. “I know that song too. It’s on my iPod.”
“Mom, Aunt Jodi knows all the cool songs.”
“Fine.” She waves a hand in front of her dismissing his words. “I’m not as cool as Aunt Jodi.”
“No,” he said. “But that’s okay.”