love is fragile at any age.

My son just wrapped up his first year of school. I'm officially the mother of a first grader...it's been a beautiful experience watching him learn and grow. I love watching him learn how to read especially. So serious. So determined. It's amazing. His school subjects aren't the only learning he's been doing this year. He has gained some pretty terrific friends. He's been learning about the pros and cons of hanging with older kids; with bigger kids and tougher kids. He's been hurt, he's seen success, he's found a few awesome kids to look up to. He's also been introduced to the idea of girls and love. He covers his eyes when people kiss and hug on TV but he never hesitates to tell me he loves me or give me a hug. The last week of school, Caden was invited to a classmate's birthday party. It was a girl...THE girl he's been talking about all year. At first, he told me that the rule of the party is that the birthday girl chose a boy and a girl who have to kiss (a little young, right-we played this game in fifth grade I think). Caden was to kiss the birthday girl. He told me this was top secret information. And that he told her he's never kissed a girl. When I said, "What about me?" he immediately replied that "that's different mom". Oh no, my son, at the tender age of six understands the difference between loving his mother and another girl! I had to take a moment to absorb this information. The party came and he was upset because another rule was that everyone was to go home and change out of their school uniforms and into their best clothes for the party. Keep in mind, it was ninety degrees that day and the wind was blowing at like 30 mph. I told him I wasn't driving an extra half hour to have him change and he freaked, but shortly got over it. There was no kissing at the party (sigh of relief by all). However, when I picked him up after the last day of school, he seemed down. Not only was this little girl moving many states away this summer, he had other news. The school had walked many blocks away to play at a park and have a sack lunch. On the way back, my son and this girl held hands (Caden has said many times how much he'll miss her). His friends gave him a hard time about loving this girl. Caden looked at me sadly and said, "Mom, just because we hold hands, that doesn't mean I'm in love with her. She's my friend and friends can hold hands." What a proud moment. I responded by telling him that showing affection or showing that you care for someone is never wrong. There's nothing wrong with holding hands with a friend. Especially one who is scared to move and worried about making new friends. She probably needed a good friend and I'm so glad that my son was there. I know I've said this a million times before...I have no doubt that my son will have his heart broken by a million girls over the years because he is SUCH a lover, but I would rather he have too big of a heart than not having one at all...