I received an interesting phone call from Kalvin at work on Friday. The kind of phone call you might expect to receive from your twenty something year old son, but certainly not from your seven year old. Kalvin had asked his friend, let's call her Catherine, to marry him at recess. "Mom, I did it! I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but it turned out as well as it could. She said yes!" he exclaimed.
I was a little shocked. Not only because Kalvin is seven, but because we had not heard a word of this plan of his. Kalvin is not very good at keeping a secret or keeping his worries to himself. So how he plotted this all by himself and kept it a secret is quite a feat.
Kalvin has always had lots of friends...who are girls. All of his play dates, in fact, have been with girls. Kalvin use to be into very "girly" things - Barbies for Christmas, pocket books, pink Hello Kitty wallets -you get the picture- so we never gave it much thought that most of his friends were girls. We assumed Catherine was no different than any of his other friends.
Until last fall. I was making dinner and Kalvin was sitting on the couch, arms folded over the back sort of gazing off into space. He had a few really heavy sighs that prompted me ask him if everything was okay. "Yes, it's just that I can't stop thinking about Catherine," he said.
"Ohhh?" I inquired. "What about her?"
"I really like her and I just can't stop thinking about her," he responded.
"What about her do you like? Her pretty hair bows? Her barrettes? Sparkly sneakers? Does she make you laugh?" I peppered as I glanced his way and caught a glimpse of the goofiest grin on his face.
"Mom, I just love everything about her," he said - goofy smile still completely covering his entire face. Still gazing off into space.
"Nooo," I thought, "This can't be puppy love, he is only six years old!" I was shocked. I was not expecting this. Not at all.
For the next year we would hear all about Catherine. They were in the same kindergarten class and some nights-ok most nights- his mood would depend on how nice Catherine had been to him that day. We got to know everything about Catherine. Her sisters. Their dog. Her parents. Their vacations. I felt like I personally knew Catherine and her family. Kalvin was devastated when he found out they were not going to be in the same first grade class the following year.
By the time fall rolled around, we really didn't hear too much about Catherine anymore. Kalvin would still talk about her from time to time, but not like last year. We thought he had out grown his little puppy crush.
Then recently, Catherine's name came up. She had been out of school for an entire week with the flu. Kalvin was really worried about her all week and began to fear she was seriously ill. We emailed her mother who assured us she was on the mend - Kalvin was so relieved as were his father and I. Kalvin began replaying their reunion at school to his father while we were at an appointment in Boston waiting for Dr. Kim to come into the room. "Oh Dad, did you hear? Catherine came back to school yesterday! When we saw each other on the playground we hugged. It was a really BIG hug, dad. One of those hugs that lasts for a looonnnggg time," he stated. Then he went on ever so seriously, "Oh, I probably should being sharing our private business with everyone." He chuckled. And that was that. Everyone was his father and I.
His father and I looked at each other, "He has private business now? He is still seven? Right??"
I was quite curious about the details of the proposal. So naturally when I came home from work on Friday, I promptly asked him again exactly what had happened at recess. "Well, it really was the best possible outcome, mom," he stated. Where does he get these phrases from? Honestly, he is a bit of a romantic, an old soul we have always said, but this is just a bit over the top.
He began replaying the event for me in detail, "I asked the two girls who were playing with Catherine if they could give us a minute alone and the girls agreed. They left us alone and Catherine said "Ohhh, a private conversation...heehee."
Then I got down on my knee like this (see photo above) and I held out my arm like this (he stretched his arm straight out) and I said "Marry me, please?" Then, she looked right into my eyes for what felt like forever and slowly shook her head up and down and then said "yes."
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Train - Marry Me
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"She said yes!" he exclaimed. "I was so happy, I wasn't quite sure what she would say, but she said yes!"
He seemed so relieved. Like the weight had lifted.
I then proceeded to ask the only normal questions for a mother of a seven year old who has just proposed to a girl, "Where did you get this idea to get down on one knee and ask her to marry you?"
"Oh, I saw it in a Kay Jeweler commercial," he said. "I have been planning this for a long time, but I didn't know if I could get up the courage to ask her, but I decided to just go for it."
We have always tried to limit and monitor the television that Kalvin watches, but this year he began watching a lot of sports. Football and hockey have the most inappropriate commercials for kids. We weren't really worried about the Kay Jewelers commercials however, it was more the Bud Light commercials that we were more concerned with. Silly us.
"When are you planning to get married?" I asked hesitantly.
"Oh, not until we can drive," he replied.
"Do you have any other plans I should be aware of?" I bravely asked, not sure I was ready for the response.
"Well, just that we are going to have seven children. She says I have to work and I told her she will have to drive the kids everywhere and pick them up from school," he answered. "I am not sure when her bridal shower will be."
Somehow, I see a few "broken hearts" in this boy's future. It is one thing to help your child recuperate from heart surgery, but quite another to help them mend a "broken heart." I don't think I am ever going to be ready to handle this boy's "broken hearts".
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| Kalvin's first kiss...May 2007. |
An update on this story can be found in this post: Wedding Update and Here.
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