Miles & Michelle

There's a little girl in Miles' class named Michelle. Michelle and Miles. Miles and Michelle. As you may have guessed, they've become fast friends.

Michelle's family moved here from Michigan, but her parents are originally from Mexico. So her Mom speaks Spanish and teaches their preschool class some Spanish, every other week. Anyway, I think Michelle is a darling, nice, smart-as-a-whip little girl... and have said so since she moved into Miles' class last spring. It's possible I have extolled her virtues a little too persistently (or the great minds in my family just think alike), because Miles' teacher told me that my redhead has developed a noticeable crush on the little brown-pigtailed girl.

Ahhh, so... it all adds up!

Earlier this week, I walked in to pick Miles up and found him power hugging Michelle -- just squeezing the life out of her with a big bear hug around her shoulders. (This is a game a group of boys usually play at the end of the day, and they seem to get extra points for knocking each other down and rolling around in the bear hug on the floor, until some mom says "enough!") I mentioned the lovey-dovey hug to the boy's father, and he brought it up later at dinner. Though Miles brags about his rough-housing exploits with Tejas and Christian Q. and would never leave class without hugging Nathan, he grew strangely silent about this little episode ...he appeared EMBARRASSED, even.

Add to this.... Miles asked last week if we could buy a birthday present for Michelle. I said sure, as soon as it is her birthday. Now, according to Miles, it's been Michelle's birthday twice in the last 10 days. Again this morning he says, "Today is Michelle's birthday." Oh, and he's invited to her party. To eat pizza. Somewhere. At some time.

I began to explain to the young love-bird that we need a party invitation ( in order to know when and where to go) but I was interrupted as Miles said, "It's OK. Michelle already invited me to her house." I then explained that no kid has this many birthdays, so only ONE day is Michelle's real birthday, and I need to know what day that is before we start handing over presents and weird her parents out. (What if her birth were in August, for instance, and they believe Miles is a pint-sized stalker?)

This stumped the band for a moment, and then Miles said, "Oh, so THAT'S why we need the moms to talk. Well, she might talk in Spanish but that's OK. (then another small pause.) And you might not understand her. But that's OK, too. I'll tell you what she said."

Priceless. Just priceless. Though he retains next to NO Spanish vocabulary, I find the boy's confidence refreshing. His optimism heartening. His little fixation sweet and endearing.

Here's to boys everywhere, and to the mothers who see them through their first crushes, latest crushes, crushed hearts and best attempts at communication. It really is a joy to be the mom of a boy!