Thursday, June 25, 2009

Boys and Girls

Emily calls Big Kid her boyfriend, and has pretty much since she could say the word. Emily will tell anyone who will listen (including strangers) that he is her boyfriend and she has big plans for the future for them.

Last time they were at her house, her mom playfully said, "You two have known each other forever. Maybe one day you'll grow up and get married!" As Emily was swooning over the idea, Big Kid quickly and casually said, "I'm not marrying Em."

"What?!?" demanded Em.

"She's my best friend. You can't marry your friends. You'll always be my friend," he answered simply. "I love you but dat doesn't mean I'm gonna marry you."

"Mom!!! Mom!! He says he isn't going to marry me. Big Kid says he isn't going to marry me!! BIG KID! How could you say this to me?"

"Why are you mad?," asked a genuinely confused Big Kid. "Why is she mad, Aunt Lynda Kay?"

Em's mom regretted bringing it up, told them to worry about it later, and managed to distract them from further drama.

If you ask Big Kid who is girlfriend is, he will emphatically tell you that he does NOT have a girlfriend. He doesn't even count Ahsiya as a girlfriend, although he has admitted that he loves her.

The other day when Em was here spending the night, Big Kid was lying in front of the television set, arms behind his head, one ankle propped up on his bent knee and Emily was playing with the train table directly behind him.

I heard Big Kid say, "Em, how many boyfriends do you got?"

Emily set down the train tracks and straightened up, brushing her hair from her eyes. I could tell she was intrigued and concerned about the question and how to answer.

"Boyfriends?"

"Yeah, how many do you got? Boyfriends?" he answered, still watching the t.v.

She tilted her head and went back to putting tracks together, acting aloof. "Just one, really."

"You've got one boyfriend?" he said, kind of laughing as he said it.

She looked over at him defensively, "Just my dad," she said at the exact time he said, "So only me?"

Her face broke out in a wide, relieved grin and she said, "Oh, two then. I forgot to count you. Just you and my dad, I guess."

"You call your dad your boyfriend?"

"Yes, Big Kid," she huffed, "lots of girls do. You're not my only boyfriend."

"Okay." Big Kid said with a shrug of his shoulders.

As she bent back down to assemble more train tracks, I could see that she was positively beaming.

It is so funny to watch the two of them and to see the differences in girls and boys, and that we're pretty much born with those differences.

3 comments:

Kristi said...

So that story just absolutely made my day! My DS has one thats his "Em"...LOVE it!
K

Jennifer said...

Isn't it really amazing. My girl came first and now to watch the boy.... I just love it. They are so, so different in some ways. He is very mechanical and will not talk at all. By this age she was already talking in sentences but couldn't put a puzzle together. I just love watching them grow up.

Life, Love And Lola said...

AWWWWWW! Young love!