Young Love

Colin has been interested in the concept of marriage for about a year. It all started when a little girl in his class asked him to marry her. So he came home and asked all about marriage, decided it was a good idea and went in the next day to tell her he would marry her.

This year he's developed quite the little crush on a girl who goes to his school, but isn't in his class (she's a year younger). He is very excited for lunch and for time on the playground because he tells me when he gets to see her and he makes sure to sit next to her at lunch.

So today he came home from school and said "Mom, I've decided not to marry _____, I'm going to marry Mary". We'll call her Mary (not her name). So I said that was great and then we started a very long and very dramatic conversation.

I asked him why he wanted to marry Mary and he said because she's his friend and he loves her. And because he likes sitting next to her at lunch. But he doesn't play with her during play time because she doesn't like dinosaurs. "And mom, want to hear something terrible? She likes HANNAH MONTANA! Isn't that terrible!?!"

But apparently the relationship isn't just conflict between Hannah Montana and dinosaurs. It seems like Mary also talks to another boy at lunch. Which has Colin very upset. He told me she shouldn't talk to the other boy "because what if he wants to marry her too?" and "What if they get married". He asked it with tears forming in his eyes. "She's not supposed to talk to him, she's supposed to talk to ME". I asked why and he answered "because she loves me".

I told him he was still little and he had lots and lots of time to decide who he wants to marry. We also talked about how he and Mary need to make lots of different friends and talk to everyone. He seemed okay with that idea until he thought about it for a minute and said "But next year I have to go to kindergarten when I'm five and I will leave her all alone. I'm never going to kindergarten!"

And so starts the drama of young love.