This is G.
Isn’t he cute?
This G does not belong to me, he belongs to my friend J And her husband.
When my girl child went off to kindergarten she and G became friends rather quickly. Within a matter of weeks they decided to get married.
Initially it was a topic they discussed at length. Soon enough however it simply became a fact of their little lives and they treated it accordingly. They even went so far as to name a few of their children. I think there is a Lucy in the bunch but I could be mistaken.
Over the course of the 18 months following this life altering decision the topic of R and G’s future came up at our house frequently and randomly enough for it to be clear that it is a subject about which the girl invested some serious time pondering.
For example, she and I were engrossed in laundry or some other exciting household task one day when out of the blue she asked, “When G and I get married will our kids have his last name or my last name?”
On one occasion she approached me concerned about whether they would live with us (her dad and me) or with G’s parents. I explained to her that married people generally don’t live with their parents if they can help it. At least not in this country. That left her thinking maybe marriage wasn’t all that great.
Nearly a year later the conversations were still occurring . . .
Upon leaving a petting zoo one day R announced that she wanted to live on a farm and have goats of her own. (Never mind that three days earlier she was planning on being a dolphin trainer.) We affirmed her career plans and discussed living in the country for a minute or two and continued to mosey on our way.
Not 30 seconds later she nodded to herself, looked up at me and said, “We could live in the country and that would be fine because G could be a fireman.”
Until that sentence popped out of her mouth G’s name had not come up in conversation all day.
Clearly the girl is a planner.
Sadly R’s father and I had to put a stop to the wedding plans this spring.
One evening a couple of months ago R’s future in-laws came over for dinner. During the course of consuming large quantities of pizza G’s father asked G to tell me about his updated career plans. G confidently announced, “I’m going to have kids and be a stay at home dad.”
“Oh, so sweet!” I thought. To G I said, “G If you want to stay home with your kids that is just great.”
At this point R’s future father-in-law asked G to clarify for me the timeline for his plans.
Bright eyed and nodding for emphasis G looked up at me with his intense and earnest little face and said, “I’m going to have kids right when I’m done with high school.”
Up shot my eyebrows.
“Really?”
“Well, I’m sorry, honey. R won’t be available until at least ten years after that. I’m afraid the wedding is off. You’ll have to find someone else.”
R and G seem to be handling the change to their plans well. I like to think it is because they respect my adult / parental authority. Unfortunately I think it has more to do with the approaching “the opposite sex has cooties” phase.
We may have to revisit this in six or seven years when hormones start wreaking havoc on our lives. At that point I will probably have to break the news to R that getting married involves a tad more than holding hands and dancing in a circle.
If I’m lucky, however, she may still believe that when a boy and a girl kiss they have to get married. That might not be so bad.
We’ll just hope she is really picky about whom she kisses.
Ingies n' Things 
