Puppy Love

Lu has been prone to puppy love since he was a toddler.

at the age of 4

they were married under the kitchen table

no adults were invited

but several other little friends did attend

she left that year, and his little bitty heart 

really was broken for a while.

But then he got lovesick for a little girl in kindergarten,

  when he was going to a school.

That one was pretty long-lived,

almost three years.

And then we started homeschooling,

and he decided that it was too complicated

since he would no longer be seeing her at school.

Back then, Lu's idea of having a girlfriend was liking a girl.

If you like her, she's your girlfriend - basically.

But things have changed.

Lu has a little friend who he likes very much.

He's invited her to an ice cream on a couple occasions,

and he boldly asked her father to use his restaurant's stoop

to sell his earrings, thus getting more chances to see her. 

(as well as a really good spot for making sales)

I needed to run over to the next town to do some errands,

and Lu thought it would be the perfect chance to

go on a real date.

 So I played invisible mom,

kept them in view,

but let them do their thing

(and stole a couple pics)

On their way...

After ordering food,

they played chutes and ladders, and gofish.

Lu packed a bunch of games for the date :)

Now, I know this is probably unheard of in some places,

but I actually left them there, at the restaurant, 

and went to do my errands, for about an hour.

And the fact that I can do this, and not get arrested,

is one of the many reasons I choose to live

on the fringes of the overdeveloped world.

When I came back, they were almost done eating.

We walked back to the boat

- which is our local transportation -

 

The boat ride back got a bit windy.

Lu offered his sweater

by placing it over her shoulders.

The sweater slid down,

but his arm stayed there.

Later, he told me he learned the move on

The Wonder Years.

(he's watched all the episodes twice)

It's puppy love, that's all.

Nothing more.

A simple crush.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

If only love could always be so sweet.

I believe that this experience teaches my son lots of things -
like being a gentleman, expressing his feelings, 
giving his full attention to someone else,
considering other people's feelings,
tenderness, and confidence.