1 Mother 2 Another

Remember Maddie and her in-class Romeo,
“Joe”? Well, the relationship’s only heating up.


Joe was gone over Valentine’s week, apparently at
Disneyworld. But his first act upon returning this week was to give
Maddie a valentine. A girly one, no less, because he “knew
she wouldn’t want a boy one”.


He knows my kid, I have to give him that.

Joe then proceeded to shower Maddie with
gifts, and they’ve been continuing all week. Joe gave Maddie
a “love” sticker. He gave her a one-day pass to
Disneyworld. Sure, it was expired, but she doesn’t know that.
Then yesterday he gave Maddie a “VIP Pass” for her to
take her own picture with Mickey. This boy has figured out Maddie
loves gifts, and he’s pressing his advantage.


So guess where Maddie’s begging for us to go this summer?
Yep, Disneyworld. I need to talk to that kid.


Maddie confides to us at night in a giggly voice I thought I
wouldn’t hear for another ten years. When I come to help out
in her classroom, I see her sharing a chair with Joe as they work
together on the same computer – and I see the electricity
sparking between them.


“We’re boyfriends, you know,” Maddie said
casually the other day. I refrained from correcting her, as my
kindergarten self once confessed to my mother that my boyfriend
Ross had “asked me to propose”. Maddie says Joe is her
“BFF” and that they are “true loves”. To
her, this means presents, and that he’ll let her win at
sports during recess.


Come to think of it, that may actually BE the definition of true
love.


We’re still trying to play it casually and just let it play
itself out, but I’ve got my eye on that kid. As a
seven-year-old, he should really be fishing in first-grade waters
(in my opinion) but otherwise he seems like a good kid – a
charmer, and a class troublemaker, but not on the fast track to
ganghood. Which, I guess, is a good place to start in the
“What I Want From A Boyfriend” list.


This is giving me a teeny glimpse of what life will be like in
fifteen years as we see her move into serious relationships, and
feel what it’s like to shift from the center of her universe
to the periphery. It’s also a close-up preview of the
helplessness I feel to actually control which boy she chooses, and
that constant “Is he good enough?” sort of feeling.


I know, I know, they’re in kindergarten. But come on –
he gave her an all-day pass to Disneyworld. I can’t compete
with that.