Thursday, April 24, 2008

5 going on 30...

We’ve spent considerable time teaching our children their phone number and address in case they ever get lost and have to tell the nice policeman where they belong. And just last week my daughter demonstrated acute recall ability when she began handing out said phone number to little boys in her kindergarten class.

How do I know this? One of said boys called two afternoons ago while my daughter was with her grandmother. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Hello?

Little Rico Suave: Hi. Is Leah there? This is Little Rico.

Me: She’s with her grandmother.

LRS: Could she play at my house later?

Me: No.

LRS: I’ll call back later.

Me: 10 years from now would be good.

LRS: What?

When I confronted my daughter she informed me that Little Rico wasn’t a boyfriend. And as any child springing from my loins is wont to do, she turned the conversation into a semantic debate. She explained, “I took the word ‘boy’ and ‘friend’ apart. I told Little Rico that he’s my friend who’s a boy. Not my ‘boyfriend’.” Does she think I fell off the turnip truck? Like that excuse wasn’t around a kazillion years ago when I was in elementary school?

I reminded her that she wouldn’t be talking to boys, distributing her phone number to boys, or going over to play with the Little Rico’s of the world until she was twenty three. Reasonable, right? She pouted.

That night I called Little Rico’s mom and told her that I had not intended for my 5-year old to give her phone number to little boys. The mother agreed, bemoaning this fast-paced generation where kids hook up over their preschool snacks. Apparently she wasn’t so keen on my daughter giving her phone number up so easily. Did she just call my daughter a floozy? No matter. This would all soon be in the past.

The next day I asked Leah if she had informed Little Rico Suave that she is not allowed to give her phone number to boys. She told me she had but complained, “He said he didn’t care what you say. He’s going to call again anyway.” I imagined this five-year old boy defending his love for my daughter passionately, calling outside her window, “LEEEEE-ah” in a very Stella-esque manner.

A warning about this had not been distributed in my parenting materials.

I told my daughter our address wasn’t up for grabs either.

24 comments:

Spammon said...

In a couple of nights he's going to be standing outside with a boom box above his head playing Peter Gabriel's 'Shock the Monkey'.

Carrie Wilson Link said...

Yes! I think she DID call your daughter a floozy!!!!

OMG, LOL!

GustoBones said...

AH, young love!! That is too funny!! My kids still have co-ed playdates, but in a couple of years those will be over!!!!

shauna said...

Gustogirl, I'm so for co-ed playdates except this particular boy is a real Casanova. As I've worked in Leah's classroom he's "dated" just about every girl in her class and says, post-"break-up" that So and So "betrayed" him. It's funny, but when he set his eyes on Leah it stopped being funny to me. That's when I became Militant Mom.

Janice {Run Far} said...

LOL that is kind of cute, but of course No boys have been calling my 7 year old yet.

Anonymous said...

Kaela does that too! It's the cutest thing. She's started memorizing other people's phone numbers too. She knows our grandma's, and... that might be it. But she calls grandma constantly.

~Jordan

Anonymous said...

Oh. Love it! It is so great that we defend our daughters like that. I promise you it doesn't get any better or easier. My daughter is 22 and I STILL act like that when boys call. And that is what they still are. Boys.
Oh. You just wait! Love it!

K

Rachel said...

Leah is a girl after my own heart. I was busily playing the field at that age.. but I can't believe the brazen Littel Rico's attitude towards you!! He is oging to call anyway?? Wow..

Crazed Nitwit said...

Bwahahahahaha. Just wait till she's 15............

Candygirlflies said...

Just thank the Lord Above that she's giving her number to BOYS HER OWN AGE.

For now.

Harharhar.....

xo CGF

lindsey said...

Little Rico! I'm dying here...

I'm so nervous for the day's ahead. Day's of girlfriends and dating, I can't even think about it without feeling anxiety!

Don Mills Diva said...

Oh you are soooo in for it! I'd start looking into convent schools now!

Thank you for your kid words with regards to the flamming Catherine and I received over the newspaper article - much appreciated!

Reverend Shawn said...

As the father of two girls ages 8 & 11, (and remembering what boys were like when I was one ...) I live in dread of the moment when the intense dislike of boys changes in my two ... (hopefully it is still a long way off) ... BUT, having said that, I'm also torn because I want my girls to have healthy friendships with boys that have no overtones of "boyfriend-girlfriend" implications ...

Such is the JOY of parenting ... buckle your seat belt Shauna - it's gonna be a heck-of-a ride ...

Becky said...

Oh Shauna....so funny. I am afraid I will be dealing with this someday too. I never had to with Cam, but times have changed in the last five years...that's for sure.

As a teacher, one of my biggest pet-peeves at school is hearing..."my boyfriend...my girlfriend"..etc. ARGH! They are babies still....it is frustrating.

Melodrama Mama said...

Kids have the weirdest way of taking the mundane things that we say/teach them and suddenly a harmless lesson can morph into an unexpected issue! Let's hear it for militant mom's - we need to lay down the law when the kids are in kindergarten, in hopeful avoidance of future problems! Good Mommy!

Anonymous said...

That is too funny. Hannah use to have a boy in 1st grade call her all the time. She kept telling me it was her "prom date." Prom date, as in Senior year of High School. This was before we had Caller Id, so I had the teacher step in. She wasn't surprised, I don't think Noah had a lot of supervision, lots of older brothers. Noah was a regular fixture at our house for a week. Persistant little guy. I'll have to ask her if she remembers she has a prom date.
XOXOXO

pinkmorning said...

oh my goodness, this post made me laugh so hard. i thought the same thing as spammon, him comint to your house and standing outside her window with a boom box, haha. that is too funny. i think it wasn't until about second grade that i remember the days of "going together" even though we never really went anywhere.

polkadot said...

a little boy at my daughter's preschool is always asking me if he can kiss her... I'm thinking "WHY??????????????"

Tari said...

Hee hee that's so funny. I think it's even funnier that your all freaked out by it. It's just harmless kid stuff. Austin had a girl kiss him once when he was like 4 it made him so mad that he pushed her and she went home crying. It was sad. Little kid love I love it.

shauna said...

It seems official. I am a fuddy-duddy. *sigh* It's happened much more quickly than I expected. But in my defense, Little Rico is especially forward and my daughter is, well, my daughter. And Janicenw, I have pre-ordered a chastity belt simply because your evil laugh scared me. Melodrama Mama, thanks for "getting" me. And Spammon, I am having a set of flood lights installed on my house directly beneath my daughter's window to prevent any secret boom-boxing or romeo-ing...

Cheffie-Mom said...

Cute. Little girls are always calling my son...I think its adorable! Sorry I have not been blogging lately! I have been taping shows. What was I thinking?? Hah! Maybe it is a good thing I wasn't thinking! If you get a minute, check it out. I'd love to hear what you think. I am inviting all my blog friends over for feedback. http://www.dishingwithdebbie.com Your stories are great and my whole idea behind this show is for other moms to share real stories like you do. Sponsors are donating neat prizes like chocolate baskets and mini-chef aprons and way cool cookery stuff. Anyway, I'd love to hear from you.

Rachel said...

you are going to let her go over to his house to play at 23??? Wow...aren't you the permissive mom...I am personally waiting until my daughter is post-menopausal.

Anonymous said...

Where are you??

GustoBones said...

Shauna,
Happy Mother's Day! I hope your kids make it special for you!!