Running After Her

Tyler has a favorite classmate: Ella.

Ella Bella Cinderella.

He softens and sparkles at the sound of her name.

"What does she look like, Tyler?"

"Well," his eyes wander in picturing her. "She has hair like a girl, and she has two eyes right here."

That's good to know. You've now described every girl in your class.

There is a certain wordlessness that falls over him when I mention Ella. A dreamy wordlessness.

And apparently it goes both ways. These two have paired off. They cry when they cannot walk beside each other and hold hands; they hug all throughout the live long day; they sign "I love you" to one another across the PreK classroom. Hugs, kisses, the works.

He loves Ella. She loves him. His mom and I are getting to know one another. It seems wise to begin a friendship of our own, given the plans our children have made.

Tyler came home and said, "Ella was running so fast today, and I couldn't even catch her."

"And so what did you do?"

He looked at me, dumbfounded with the obvious answer. "Mommy, I kept running after her."

An excellent approach, kiddo. Just keep chasing after the girl who has your eye. She's bound to glance your way.

Or in Ella's case, she'll stop running and hug you for joining the chase.