On Love: Quotes and Stories from the Kids

Ashley and William get along well.  Ashley commented, "I just love playing with my brother William because I love him." 

William says, "I love him too!"

When ever I tell William that I love him, he grins and says, "No you don't!!!" as though the whole concept is ridiculous. 



Sometimes I say "I love you!" to William just so I can see his bemusement.



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Ashley and I were listening to "Tale as Old as Time" from Beauty and the Beast.

"This is from Belle's movie!!!" she exclaimed.
"I always loved Belle. She was my very favorite," I said.  "She loved books and so did I."
Ashley paused before stating, "you know, Mom, Belle isn't real."
"She isn't?" I asked, "How do you know???"
"She is just from a silly old movie, that's how.  But you can still like her if you want." Ashley gently reassured me.



(I'm glad she protected me from feeling utter devastation.  Someday I may need her to do this for real.)

******

One day Joel and I were conversing with the kids about our recent anniversary. 
"Papa and I got married, and it was the best day in our lives."  I said as Joel and I hugged.
"Yeah, and then I was born, and that day was even gooder!"  Everett added enthusiastically with a fist punched into the air.

******

Everett got married this summer to our neighbor's granddaughter.  She had visited several times and each time she and Everett built on their affinity for one another.  She is a whole head taller than him but neither of them seemed to mind.

Together with Ashley, they found a vast collection of fake flowers in the basement and decided the thing to do would be to hold a wedding.  I came down to find Everett and his new wife sitting closely together on the ground in perfect companionship.  Niether spoke or looked at each other.  I don't think they knew what was supposed to come next. 

I didn't particularly want to give them the chance to get creative (after all, Disney itself teaches that a kiss is a post-requisite wedding activity), so I spurred them on to a different activity.

"This looks boring," I said light-heartedly.  "Why don't we go upstairs and color?"

That pleased the newlyweds and third-wheel-Ashley, so we all went upstairs.  I left to get supplies and when I returned, I saw that Everett had scooted his chair against our special visitor's and had his arm around her shoulders.  They both looked contented in their new set-up.

I am not quite ready to deal with this,  I thought.  They're five years old for crying out loud! I tried my best to hold back my laughter.  I succeeded.  I also succeeded in putting some distance between the love birds. 



Alas, the relationship was doomed from the outset.  A two-hour-plus living distance for children who cannot drive or even make phone calls well greatly hinders any hope of a successful long-distance relationship.

The next time the girl visited, she and Everett seemed to have forgotten all about their summer wedding, as I knew they would, for there is lots of other fun to be had.

******

Considering the summer nuptials, I was not too surprised when Everett began talking about a girl in his kindergarten class.  I don't remember how he initially spoke about her, but his embarrassment gave him away.  As soon as he told us her name, he immediately regretted his candor.  His ears flushed red and he couldn't stop himself from grinning embarrassingly. 

For weeks afterwards, Everett would cover his ears and say, "I'm not going to talk about it!" whenever one of us mentioned her name.

"What do you like to play at recess with her?" We'd occasionally ask.  "What kind of snack did she bring today?"  "What is on her backpack?"  "Does she ride the bus?"  "Do you sit with her at lunch?"  "Is she taller or shorter than you?"

These were all questions we ask about all his other friends, but Everett blistered each time we brought her up.  He'd also still grin from ear to ear and turn bright red.

One day, Everett opened up and explained that he does, in fact, love her.  "How do you know when you love someone?" I asked.  Everett didn't have a good answer.  (How many poets have struggled to answer this same thing?)  But he did tell me that she loves him because he found a cat book for her one day in their kindergarten classroom and she really loves cats. 
"How do you know that she loves you?"  I wondered aloud. 
"Because she told me." Everett shrugged simply.  And that was the end of the conversation.

Partway through the school year, I found an envelope with a heart on it in Everett's backpack.  It was from the girl.  The card in it had "Love, {girl}" written in a kindergarten hand.

Everett wrote a note back (with an illustration of the two of them) to give her but chickened out at the last minute.  "I'm changing this," he announced to me.  "Here.  This is you and me now."
"Why don't you want to give it to {girl}?"  I wondered.
"Because if I did it would be SO embarrassing."

So it stayed on our refrigerator for a few weeks.  I wish I had scanned those notes so I could include them with this entry.

A few weeks later, I discovered that Everett would answer any question about this girl if I asked it in a whisper.  I don't remember what I asked, but Everett suddenly felt the need to elaborate on his feelings.  But he refused to tell me unless he could say it with a whisper in my ear.




"I can't help it," he whispered, "Whenever I see a beautiful girl I just fall in love with her."

And that is that.  I had always wondered what drew Everett to this particular girl.  Everett is friends with many girls in his class; in fact, he may have more girls as friends than boys.  But as soon as I found this girl in his class photo, I understood completely.  She is probably one of the only girls who is around Everett's height, and she could easily be considered one of the cutest.

It has almost been 100 days into the school year, Everett tells me, and his interest in his special friend has not decreased.  While we don't condone girlfriend/boyfriend relationships (maybe when I am 18, Everett tells me), it is nice to know that he has so much love to give.