Love at First Sight...

I don't remember a single Valentine's Day between ages 0 and 20... except one.

I vividly remember Valentine's Day in 1986.  I was in Kindergarten.  I had the chicken pox and so I had to miss our party at school.

I'm sure this was devastating.

So after school, my mom took me up to the school to get the valentines other children had brought for me.

And I vividly remember being outside when a little boy named Kevin came outside with something special for me.

It was a box of candy message hearts.  You know - the "Call me." version.

But this was no ordinary box.

This was a big red heart shaped box filled with candy hearts.  

Kevin picked out something special for me.  

I have absolutely no idea what Kevin's last name is nor do I have any other memories of him.  

But I remember that moment - the first time a boy gave me something special just for me.

Lately, Will has received several special drawings from sweet little girls.  

Now, I know that this is a "romantic" age - I was told once that at this age, it is normal for boys and girls to begin playing the roles of "mommy" & "daddy" with their friends.  Pretend play is natural and so they naturally fall into these rolls and assign each other characters to play.  

But.   I am not one of those mamas that think talking about boyfriends or girlfriends with a four year old is natural or even appropriate.  I prefer him seeing romantic love in the context of a marriage.  I want him to be a kiddo and enjoy being a kid without pressure to name who is cute or who he "likes."   Goodness - he likes everyone right now!  He's 4!

So when he comes home with special little drawings from girls - we think it is sweet and cute and he loves those drawings and they make him feel special... which is great.  But we don't assign any other feelings or pressure to it.

(As his mama, I love that these girls are making him feel loved and special and someday, when he struggles with a heartbreak, I'll be busting these precious drawings and notes out of their keepsake box to remind him of girls that thought he was special.  And I'll remind him of the little girl who once didn't notice his hands and feet at all but noticed his bottom & informed me, "He has the cutest little bottom cheeks!"  Yes.  Yes she did.  And though I was in shock I thought to myself that THAT is the kind of girl he is going to marry someday!  (Hopefully, she'll keep her hands off his cute little bottom cheeks until then!)

This week, he came home with a special Valentine from a sweet little girl.  It had both of their names on it and he asked me to hang it up where he can always see it & "remember her."

I began to wonder if perhaps he is drawing special things for people in his class and I got the following response,

"Mom, all the girls in my class are big.  The cutest girl I know is Ellie."

Be still my heart.

But wait.  There's more!

"Ellie is the prettiest girl and she's my favorite.  

I'm gonna give her a big hug and kiss when we get home!"

(His special "Will hugs" can be a little tight. ;)) 

I'm going to have to save all these loving, precious comments he makes about his little sister.

I'll print them out and blow them up huge and perhaps have them painted on our walls for when he is 13 and sibling rivalry occurs.  

And then I think I'll read them out loud at his rehearsal dinner someday.

This boy is going to make a great husband!