Purple Dress

My son can be whiny, ornery, demanding, and inflexible, but his depth of emotion never ceases to amaze me. At the tender age of six, he has proven to be a hopeless romantic! He had a short but sweet love affair with a girl in his class. Despite his myriad of complaints regarding his Kindergarten experience, he found this one little girl to be quite the silver lining. But as luck would have it, the love of his life had to move to Texas!

On her last day of school, my son decided to bring her a parting gift from his toy collection. After much deliberation, he settled on a wind-up lady bug that did flips. He figured that she would like this, since she had been a bumble bee for Halloween, obviously, she was cool with insects. He was clearly bummed about her leaving, but also very excited to give her something to remember him by.

When I picked him up from school, I was anxious to see how she liked her gift. I immediately asked him, "How did it go? Did she like it?".

And he said, "I couldn't give it to her, because she wasn't there. I guess yesterday was her last day!"

What a heartbreak! This was his moment and he missed out by one stinking day!

It's been about 2 months since he's seen his sweet baboo, but he hasn't forgotten her yet. He'll drop her name into conversations, and periodically say, "Do you know who I still miss?" Every time he makes mention of her, I feel warm and fuzzy. Two months is a long time for a kid, so the fact that he's still thinking of her speaks volumes!

But today, his sweetness reached new heights! He spent the morning drawing with his sister; I assumed he was drawing the usual... monsters (of every possible variety) or star wars characters. Instead he ran into the room to show my Mom and I this...

Here they are holding hands! His sweetheart is even wearing her signature purple dress that she wore on picture day, and he is rockin' his "creature from the black lagoon" t-shirt. He also carefully colored in her crystal bindi and a smiley-faced sun. I assume the snow is simply an appreciation of today's snow day.

I should also mention that there is another version of this picture, but he refused to show it to me. I'll admit, however, that I got a very quick peek of the "secret version" and I noticed that he had drawn several hearts over each of their heads! He may have been too embarrassed to show me, but he wasn't too embarrassed to draw them, which is adorable on so many levels!

So there you have it, my son is a more romantic and committed partner, at the age of six, than many of the so-called "men" in the world. I would say he gets this all from me, but I must give credit where credit is due. His Daddy has shown him that it's okay to shed a "manly" tear from time to time, and that real men aren't afraid to give their heart to the right woman. The world needs more of these men; I am eternally grateful to be adding one to the population.