Her First Crush

I witnessed something this week that has started my heart in a series of small panic attacks that I imagine will not end until my daughter is 30. That is when she is allowed to get married, according to my husband. I think she is experiencing her first crush....on a BIG boy, no less.

Actually, I do think she had a crush on Jimmy, Paul's best friend, but it was a blurry line between thinking he was her friend, her surrogate uncle, and her boyfriend all at once. I knew she felt this way back in December when Jimmy's then-girlfriend (grrrrrr....don't get me started) was visiting. I told Abigail that Jimmy's girlfriend would be sleeping in our guest bedroom upstairs, to which she replied, "Me?"

Jimmy LOVED that story, and then made it his goal to make sure that Abigail continued to have butterflies whenever he was around. He gave her extra hugs. Told her how pretty her hair was. Really laid it on thick. I think he wanted to solidify himself in her memory as "her first love" (apart from Daddy). Since Jimmy is single, Catholic, and considering the priesthood, I make sure to make as many Thornbirds jokes to him as possible. He never seems to appreciate the humor, but I so, so DO.

However, Jimmy's competition has entered the scene. It's his friend Jason, who comes to our house with Jimmy. He's been hanging out with us for a while, but I think Abigail has just become aware of him this week. The other night, the guys had come over to go swimming, and then were hanging out in our living room afterward. (Aside: If you think that my husband has a lot of single guy friends, the answer is YES....too many) Jason was playing with Abigail, throwing her a ball, and being generally silly. Actually, I think she was being generally silly while he laid on the floor and put up with it.

I knew we were in trouble when she went and got a blanket and laid down next to him on the floor. "Now we can sleep together," she said.

"WHAT?!?!?" came the cry from her Daddy's mouth.

"I had nothing to do with this," Jason replied.

It's all innocent, I keep rolling over in my head. She thinks sleeping is sleeping. She has no context for any of this.

Then today, we were getting ready to go watch Jason, Jimmy, and Scott play softball. Abigail came into the bathroom while I was putting on my make-up. She was carrying Jason's baseball hat, which he had left here the other night. I told her she could take it to him at the game.

"Smell it," she said.

"Um, that's okay. What's it smell like?"

She breathed in deeply, smiled, and said, "It smells like him."

Innocent, innocent, innocent. Three years old. Innocent.

Yikes.