True Love

"I wuv you (long pause) - you put me in my bed tonight?" This is what Ellie has been saying daily for the past month, several times throughout the day. Without fail, when you tell her you love her this is what she says. We are pretty sure that she considers this to be the ultimate show of her affection. The way she says it it so funny that we can't help but laugh every time.

A few days ago, I picked Ry up from the bus and started with my usual questions. "How was your day? What did you do? How was lunch?" Shortly into our conversation she tells me, "I asked A.J. to be my boyfriend." I turn to look at her thinking WHAT?!?! She is only five years old - are you kidding me! Then she said, "I did, Mom - I really did." I start asking who he is, what does he look like do you sit next to him in class, at lunch, etc.? Then I start explaining that she can be friends with him but that she's not allowed to have a boyfriend until she is at least sixteen - no exceptions. Later on that day, Chris was asking her how her day went, so I told him to ask her about A.J. When she heard me tell him that, she immediately said, "I have a boyfriend, Dad." Chris proceeded to explain to her that she can't have a boyfriend until she turns sixteen, to which Ryleigh replied, "I didn't kiss him, Daddy." Again, WHAT!?!? She then explained, "I'm not going to marry him - I'm still going to marry Wyatt." Who's Wyatt, you ask? He is her boyfriend from preschool who moved away last year to the far-away land that is Gilbert. They would sit together at lunch each day and share food (that's what you do when you're married), and talk about where they were going live, how many kids they'd have, career aspirations, etc. At the time, Chris and I thought it was just so cute - her first crush. Since the A.J. incident, though, it has quickly gone from cute to scary. My baby girl is growing up WAY too fast.