Kissing Tag

Girlchild finally has a weapon.

For ever and ever, Girlchild has been the only girl amid the throng of boys we know. She has an older brother. The two kids next door are boys. The two kids down the block are boys. Our best friends' two kids are - you guessed it - boys. Sometimes, when everyone gets playing together and chasing each other with pointy toys while shrieking, I shudder a little and think of Lord of the Flies. I also think about how much I would like a long vacation on a tropical island by myself, but that's another story.

Girlchild copes well with this situation. She plays easily with the boys. She likes to run with them and she often will share the sandbox or join them when they play with cars. She's still at the stage where she "parallel plays," so a good portion of the time when the boys are circling around her with pretend swords and chanting strange words and calling her "the enemy," she doesn't really pay them much heed.

Most of the time the boys are good to her, but she is an easy target. She's little, she's eager to be near them and she's different, being the only girl and all. I'm pretty sure that when she gets bigger she's not going to put up with any guff from the boys - and I betcha they'll all be watching out for her, too. For now, though, when there's an odd one out, it tends to be Girlchild.

Until tonight.

We were at our friends' house and after supper the three boys were doing their usual thing: running around, wrestling, hiding, carrying "weapons," trying to "get" Girlchild. (It's not as violent as it sounds.) The adults and Girlchild were chatting nearby. At one point, I can't remember why, I suggested she give Cindy a kiss. Then she wanted to give Daddy a kiss. Then Mommy. I pointed to Boychild and the boys.

Well! That sent the boys into orbit. The girl (aaaaaaaaaah!) was coming after them to kiss them! Yuck yuck and double yuck! This turned into a new great game, and Girlchild had the upper hand for a change. Whenever she came near them for a kiss, the boys would run screaming from the room as if someone were pinching them all over.

A few years from now let's see how much we're encouraging Girlchild to run after boys and kiss them.