Ah, puppy love...

So, I am not quite sure how to start this silly blog off. I guess I can begin this whole thing off on a subject near and dear to many mothers' hearts, childhood romance. You see, my 5 year old son Aiden seems to be quite the Lothario at his school. I am not surprised. When Aiden was in his 3 year-old preschool class, he became smitten with a little girl in the class. I immediately knew who she was when I came home from accompanying him on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. As I was uploading images from my camera onto my computer, I came across a rather amusing sight.

Thinking that my vision was acting up, I opened the picture in Photoshop and cropped in further, thus revealing my son kissing his first love on the lips. A grin gleaned across my face. When Chris, my husband, came in the room, I showed him the picture. At first he seemed proud, and then his face turned to concern. He leaned into me and said, "Oooh, that's not good." I was confused. It was just a little kiss. Chris filled me in on his inside knowledge. "I know that little girl. Ya, her dad is a policeman. Way to go, Aiden." Immediately, I became overwhelmed with anxiety. I thought to myself, "In-laws!"



At that moment, it began. When I would come to preschool for any parties or events, I would often observe the little girls swooning around my son. Most little boys I know shudder at the thought of even mentioning that they have a girlfriend. Nope, not my kid. He is all about the ladies.





Recently, Aiden has been adding to his kindergarten harem. It started off as just one girl and now there's three. I went to school the other day to eat lunch with Aiden and there were random 4th and 5th grade girls stopping to tell him hi. WHAT! When I asked who they were he just said, "You know, some girls." I realized that this was happening way too fast for me.

On both Monday and Tuesday, I discovered artwork drawn for Aiden by a girl in his class. It looked like it was the first sign of love notes. I started to feel more ill as I read through them. There really was nothing to it. Just her name, a drawing of Spiderman and "To Aiden." The one from the day before really made me laugh because it reminded me so much of me. The little girl drew slices of pizza for Aiden and wrote the word pizza on it. Her "z's" were backward and Aiden corrected them. I remember in high school, my boyfriends would write me notes and I would send them back with corrections. Boy, was I mean. I digress.

Well, this brings me to the the pinnacle moment of Aiden's kindergarten love affair. Out of the blue today, I received an email from his teacher, simply titled "Aiden". As I opened the email, I shuddered to think that he was misbehaving or there was an accident. In large, bold red type, it merely said, "AIDEN KISSED ANNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And there it was, all spelled out for me. I should have known it was coming. He's been talking about her a lot these last few weeks and they ride the bus home in the afternoons. It was bound to happen.

I suppose this blog was a huge build up to a simple kiss but you know, that's my kid and I feel like the dating wheels have been put in motion. No, its not like I will be chaperoning Skate City dates anytime in the future but it does provide a glimpse into what will be coming. And so I think to myself, is there a double standard. I joke to myself that Aiden is a little ladies' man but what about his sister, Reese? She's only two and lord help the boy that crosses her path. Will I think it to be as sweet if a boy kisses her or if she's the one doing the pursuing? Just when I thought all I had to worry about was getting them prepared academically for life, now I have to prepare them socially.

I am just glad that my son is a gentleman at the ripe old age of 5. I recall boys like him in 5th grade wanting to be my boyfriend and passing me trinkets on the playground. I took them and threw them on the ground. I guess that was a precursor to my high school dating career. Anyway, I am proud he is happy and social and the girls like him, too. I guess that is all a mother can really want...and for those girls to leave my baby alone!