"You shouldn't even be asking me these questions. Dude, I'm going out with Maddie. I like Maddie. You have no business even asking me who I like more you or Tori or who I would want to go out with. I've made my choice so just stop. There is no way for me to answer that."
A proud mother overhears 11 yr old boy wrestle with pushy girl-friends on the phone who aren't pleased that he is now 'taken'. Should this kind of thing be an issue for 11 yr olds? Probably not. They should probably be playing Legos and dolls, but the sad reality is that they aren't.
And I thought that it was a sign of the declining times. Something in the milk. Societal decay. And then I saw the red and white ruler that still stands in the pencil jar on our desk. Link Elementary School, Elk Grove Village, IL. and on the back "I LOVE Matt Naase".
I was in second grade.
And I remember so clearly the infatuation with this silly red headed, freckle faced boy. By third grade he was "going out" with someone else. I suppose the end of fifth grade is every bit as appropriate for infatuation as the second grade was.
So it seems that "going out" consists of an occasional hug and once, just once, a kiss on the cheek. They share secrets and try to be even nicer to each other than they are to other people. (This, straight from the source)
Have these kids got it figured out? Take a look at the relationships all around us. . . what if we were just nicer to the people we were somehow bound to? What if we exchanged secret kisses on the cheek?
And so I reflect on the sweetness of puppy love. And while I would rather he not have discovered such a fascination with girls until a little while later .. . .he is having this conversation right next to me. He told me about the hug (and the kiss). And I can't ask for more than that kind of honesty. I can't ask for more than a kid who tries so hard to be true to the girl he likes, who won't give in to the squirrely little girl tricks. Maybe his character/honesty will carry us through the tougher years ahead.
Maybe.
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2 comments:
Very cute and so true! I have a first grader that swears he doesn't like the girl who keeps sending love notes home...well not exactly love notes...but instead love pictures. Two bodiless kids dancing together, under the stars.
Dancing under the stars . . . I love it!! Thanks for sharing.
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