1 Mother 2 Another

Maddie and I were walking home from school
when she pulled out a silly band from her backpack. These stupid
elastic wristbands are banned from her school – thankfully
– so I could understand it being in the backpack, but it was
one I’d never seen before. “Where’d you get the
silly band?” I asked Maddie.


“From Joe,” she replied.


Of course. Joe. The boyfriend.


And then the bombshell –


“But I don’t think he likes me any more.”

“Why do you say that?” I
asked, trying to contain my excitement.


“Well, today at recess I told him I just needed some space
from him. I just wanted a break from playing with him, just for a
while,” Maddie said.


Wait a minute – was she giving him the break-up speech?


“And what did he say?” I asked casually.


“He said that if I wouldn’t play with him today then he
wouldn’t be my boyfriend any more. And I told him I already
have another boyfriend, anyway.”


Wait – what?


“What?” I said brilliantly. “Who?”


Maddie looked at me like I was in an old-folks home. “Mommy,
Jonathan! Duh!”


Oh, right Jonathan. Maddie’s love interest from preschool.
The two of them actually had quite a crush on each other, and both
sets of parents could see the attraction. I have to confess,
Jonathan’s a great kid and I was not so unhappy about her
dalliance with him.


I can’t believe I’m talking about this.


“Oh, right, Jonathan,” I said cleverly. “Is he
still your boyfriend?”


Maddie scrunched up her face, thinking hard. “Well, we never
broke up, and I still like him, so I think so! Do you think
we’ll ever see each other again?” she sighed.


Yeah, I’m not sure where to go with all this. Except to ban
all Disney movies completely.