First Love

         Experts say your first love can be a defining one.  The one in which all relationships are compared during the dating ritual that leads to the ultimate commitment of marriage.

Fresh off of his dinosaur birthday party last month – our newly anointed 4 year old has decided he is...in love. 

After his first half day back at two day a week Mini-Preschool, my son had a dramatic announcement for me on the ride home.  No, it was not that the Pretend Corner was now a Pizza Parlor instead of the Campsite setup he had last spring.  It was not that the Sensory Table now contained rice for all of his shoveling & shifting needs and not the sand he left behind for summer break.  The declaration was that he unequivocally was “in love”.

You must first understand that my oldest has a penchant for all things dramatic.  It is never just a Monday night dinner but rather, the best spaghetti & green beans he has “ever tasted in his life”.  I am not just praised for the play-date I planned, but rather I am “the best mommy in the whole-wide world that ever lived”.  Of course, we have learned to take him with a small grain of reality.

So on that first day of “school” for the 5 minute ride home with both boys strapped into their car-seats, I ask Connor to tell me all the details of his first day back.

“Mommy, I am in love” he declares as he fakes a swoon, places his open hand knuckles down on his forehead  & falls the 2 inches his straps allow him back into his safety seat.  I make a mental note that I seriously need to monitor his TV viewing.

“That’s great.  Did you happen to get her name?”  This question is steeped in the history of one too many stories of “that boy who I played cars with for two hours” or “the one girl who ate lunch at my table everyday”.

I am amazed that his response is an even more dramatic, “Mommy… I’m in love with Erica.”

Having been exposed to his outlandish proclamations before, I am not easily swayed form my state of reason.  “That is wonderful, Connor!  What is it that you love so much about Erica?”

Without even a moment of hesitation as if he has a list at the ready that he has edited in his head for this exact moment, he replies “I just love her white shirt she wore today with the pink & purple butterflies on it”.

And with that, I know that we will have another day to try and instill in him all the values and life lessons he needs before he goes from an “I” to a “We”.  My husband & I still have time to try and mold a man who respects & appreciates women for their intangible qualities and character before he enters into his first relationship to which all others are compared.

My husband, of course, handles the announcement logically when Connor plays out the dramatic announcement in full for him that evening – complete with a fall to the floor during the swoon & hand to forehead phase.  “Well buddy, let’s see how you feel about her after you see her outfit on Thursday."

The day Connor's life was changed FOREVER...(too dramatic?  Nah, not for my Drama King!!).