My Godson came home yesterday in a good mood. Turns out the girl he likes was very excited to receive a box of chocolates from him.
I asked him was she smart and he said yes. He added that she has one of the top GPAs in his class.
I asked him if she was pretty and he said yes.
I smiled.
I told him you can't ever go wrong with a girl who is smart AND pretty in that order.
He spoke casually about the rest of his day and then I asked him if he'd ever called her. He said no and walked away.
He walked back moments later and asked, "Should I?"
I answered that if he likes her, maybe he should ask her if she's allowed to receive phone calls from friends and, if so, he should ask her for her number.
E: Okay...then I'll do that.
And then I left it alone cuz really...the kid wasn't trying to make it a big deal or anything you know? Even though you could tell it was a REALLY big deal to him.
SO.CUTE!!!!!!!!!
Unca Robby overheard the conversation and teased the child, "So...ya gotcha a lil girlfriend huh?"
E: (quickly) NO!
Unca Robby: Ya need any advice?
Me: NO! HE DOESN'T NEED ANY ADVICE!
I texted Tsiporah and clued her in to what I'd learned cuz we all make up E's village ya know? The end of our text exchange stated simply: "And so it begins."
We are all very, very careful with what we say to E regarding "liking" girls. We want to be honest, of course, but the main thing every adult who loves him is thinking is...we want him to do it RIGHT.
I agonize over my answers to him regarding questions and I take my role as his Godmother seriously. I want to be there for him and I want him to know we have a super cool special bond but...I also want him to recognize that there are MAJOR expectations regarding how he chooses to live his life and how he treats members of the opposite sex.
ENTER TOO $HORT: Too Short’s XXL Advice Video Prompts Outrage, Petition and Apologies
While I was reading that article I thought about the innocence E displayed while discussing Valentine's Day. How the young lady was excited and squealed to her friends that he'd given her chocolates and how she asked him to help her with her math homework later that day.
They are 13.
In the 8th grade.
Next year...they will be high school freshmen.
Yall know I don't know nuttin' 'bout birthing no babies but I do know what I don't want my Godson exposed to. I do know that the shit Too $hort was spewing is nothing I want him to hear and thinks he needs to emulate.
EVER.
And I do know that, in order to not have people like Too $hort become the go-tos for his curiosity...the adults who love him need to be aware and ON.IT!
I remember someone told me once that what kids don't learn at home...they'll learn in the streets from some knucklehead you don't want teaching your kids a damn thing.
I.AGREE.
I felt so horrid as I read up on the short dude. I felt like...seriously...I can't believe the world he lives in is one which appoves of his line of thought.
And then...I read about the petitions and the outrage his ridiculousness sparked and I thought...yeah...folks GET.IT.
When E comes home tomorrow I'm going to casually ask if he got her number. And, if he says yes, I'm going to offer him respectable times he should call her. Not too early, not too late, definitely not too often. I'll do that as a reinforcement of what his mother tells him.
I'm going to make Unca Robby stop teasing him cuz I feel like if E has any questions he wants to ask a MAN...he should feel comfortable asking a REAL man and not run up on some of this short fool's nonsense.
Yesterday we discussed alternate childcare issues once a month. Someone reminded us that it takes a village.
This village is going to make sure E is the kind of young man you wish your daughter could date cuz seriously...if he's not...we're gonna tell Tsiporah to beat him.
And we may or may NOT be joking.
Ain't nobody trying to contribute to there being more fools out there like this short dude.
Raise your boys to be GENTLEMEN.
What say YOU?
