It is exciting when your child reaches new milestones, but it can be frightening and even a bit sad as well. It was with this mixture of emotions as I watched the young man, who is smitten by my daughter, come bearing gifts this afternoon. He wanted to surprise her by having them here before she came home from school.
My youngest daughter and this boy's younger brother also have a "thing" going, but it's different in that the two of them shyly exchanged Valentine's candy through each other's siblings. It's cute, but for them it's just a crush. THIS to me, this was a bold declaration of this boys feelings for my daughter. He was not afraid to approach me about it. It's far different. More serious. Yet still respectful in that he could have avoided her father and I altogether and just given it to her.
We have known how they have felt about each other for some time, and of course, teased them mercilessly. But this was the first outward, open indication of those feelings.Our family does not encourage dating, but we do not lay down a hard fast rule not to either. We have a pretty convincing argument for NOT dating and so far they have all made the choice not to for themselves. We have always felt that if they chose to date, it would be by our rules and certainly not before they are 16. So far, they all have agreed with us that it is foolish to allow your heart to break needlessly and have chosen to keep it friendly, or like a courtship-family always present. This young man's family feels the same, so we are very happy with the maturity with which these two are handling their feelings. His parents helped him pick out his gifts and brought him over to deliver them. We are all very involved. It's sweet to actually get to be a part of it all when most parents are left to wonder what their kids are doing when they are out.
Still, it would be quite interesting if these two and the younger two managed to still like each other when the time comes to be thinking about spouses...! I could think of worse prospects!
Oh yeah, here's her reaction....
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| From Valentine's |
