First Boyfriend

Just short of three weeks into her pre-k experience, my daughter announced that she has acquired a boyfriend. “His name is Gavin,” she told me, “and he is sooo cute.”

As you can imagine, my husband and I were not too fond of our daughter’s new status as a girlfriend. However, nobody took the news more harshly than Jules’s 6-year-old brother. When she made the announcement at dinnertime over some chicken soup, my son ran into his room and slammed the door. When he emerged with a face full of tears, he had only one question for his sister: “Have you ever kissed him?” What?????? My husband and I thought our lives had fast forward at least ten years. I hate to say, my daughter was not shocked by the question. “No,” Jules confessed, “we just hold hands.” Well, that’s a relief!

That night, when I finished reading my daughter a bedtime story, I informed her that she is too young to have a boyfriend. “I have to be big to have a boyfriend?” she asked. “Yes,” I told her, “very, very big.” “Ok,” she said. “But can I still hold Gavin’s hand?” “Maybe,” I replied, “but absolutely no kissing!”

I then made my way down the hall to my son’s room. “What happened tonight, Michael?” I asked. “Mom,” he said, starting to cry again, “I always knew this day would come, but it doesn’t make it any easier. This is the worse day of my life.”

I informed Michael that the new boyfriend has a hard time holding up his schoolbag, still can’t tie his shoelaces and had probably been wearing a diaper a year ago. I think that made my son feel better. It made me feel better, too.

And then I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of wine.