Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Young Love--a prelude

Last year, at the tender age of 7, my insulated, innocent little boy had his first brush with the terrifying World of Girls. As part of a literacy unit in school, everyone in the 2nd grade had written their own fairy tale, to be read aloud at an "Authors Conference" in May, in front of their parents, teachers, and classmates. As the big day approached, they practiced sharing their stories in their classrooms. One day Derek came home looking dejected. When I asked him what was wrong, he mumbled something about Missy and her fairy tale. Oh, dear. This was the same Missy who had made him a doily-covered, heart-shaped valentine in February, and signed it "all my love". So I was onto Missy, the 2nd grade trollop! I braced for something awful. Turns out she had been given permission not to read her story in front of people, after her test-run in class had been met with hooting, howling, and immature 7-year old boys rolling around on the floor in hysteria. What had she done to earn this critical review? She cast herself as a princess, with Derek being the brave and daring young prince who rescues her. According to Derek, they were both "embarrassed" by the incident. As I hugged him and soothed his bruised ego with a plate of cookies, I thought, "at least there was no kissing--narrative or otherwise!"

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