Ok, so really I did not expect a 4 1/2 year old to get crushes. And this is not the first... the first was a cute blue eyed sweet girl at Tae Kwon Do named Casey. Gabe would look at her with doe eyes the whole time and tell me how beautiful she was when we left the class. One day Casey moved to another class time. Gabe was disappointed for weeks.
This last Labor Day weekend was another chance for Gabe's girl craziness to show itself. It was the cutest thing ever. We met a bunch of friends an family at the beach for the day. One friend brought her 9 year old daughter and 3 of her daughter's friends. They were all cute sweet girls who were enjoying laying out on their towels chatting or rafting around in the Kayak. The only thing is, attached to these three girls was a little shadow.... Gabe. He followed them everywhere they would go. He sat just a few feet away from them for hours, staring at them. When they kayaked he pleaded with me to be allowed to sit in between them on the kayak. He was so involved in watching the girls that he never noticed his cousins or friends. At one point the girls went out on the kayak on their own, Gabe slipped over beside me and whispered in my ear..."Mommy... the girls are beautiful. " Noting that one sweet freckle faced girl named Claire was "the most beautiful girl of all."
Well, the entire beach day went like this. The poor girls had to paddle way out into the ocean to be free of their shadow for a few brief minutes, but he was always happily waiting on the shore for them when they made their way back. On our drive home Henry and I kidded Gabe about the girls a bit. He was not embarrassed at all. No, he was more disappointed that we did not get the directions to Claire's home. And how will be see her again?
Later, that evening during dinner he brought it up again... Claire must live near that beach and surely we could hunt around to find her house. We kidded around a bit with him and then said, now you know... you can group date with lots of girls and friends but you can't date until you are 16:) Big eyes turned to me and said Why???? Well, because that are the rules. I did not date until 16 and daddy did not date until....well...20. Do you know what dating is? Yes, going to dinner. Good.. then no taking a girl to dinner until you are 16 yrs. Ok, but I can take the 3 girls together? Yes, but don't you think that is a lot to handle? No. But you only have two hands to hold their hands. (Confused and concerned look... thinking....hmmm... "one could hold my foot" he laughed and then shook his head no, no that would not work.
Well, maybe he will have to stick to admiring from a distance for a time. Lord help me when he turns 16. I almost regret my words. Why didn't I say he could not date until he was 18????
