Spring Love

Two of my boys came in from lunch recess the other day and informed me that C and A were dating! Both C and A are in other fifth grade classes. Well! Such big news! I smiled and said, "Dating?" They replied, "Yeah! They gave each other Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew and then they asked each other ten questions!" I burst out laughing--couldn't help myself. Kept thinking of the commitment represented by Dr. Pepper. The boys added that C and A are "wanting to hug" but they can't find a time or a place on the playground to do it.

So, the next day our journal prompt just happened to be, "Write about dating." That caused some muttering. One boy turned in a paper that asked, "What kind of a journal question IS this???" Most said dating was "gross." I let the class stew about it all day and then before dismissing I explained why I had chosen the prompt. I told them that I had heard a bit about the playground dating and that so far I hadn't heard of anyone in our class being involved. I assured them they wouldn't have to think about or worry about dating for several more years and that I was proud to have a class not involved with the silliness. Z piped up and said that his parents will give him a car if he makes it to his eighteenth birthday without kissing a girl. B yelled out, "EASY! That is SO easy!!!" I imagine both Z and B will have trouble finding themselves unkissed at eighteen, but more power to them. It's been done plenty of times. What really caught me off guard was a comment from H, "Ah...forget about the car."