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Romance And Rorschach

J usually tells me the news of the day at dinner time. Romance has been in the air of Ms L's first grade class for a few months now. Over time J's vocabulary expanded to include love, like and crush in context sensitive terms. There is a whole bunch of players by J's account of the goings on. A has a crush on B and B loves C, D and E in that order but C has an old girlfriend back in the town his parents moved from recently. All this complication makes for a tangled and volatile web.

So I asked J how she would feel if someone told her that they had a crush on her. "I'll croak like a frog and hide under the table" she said with a loud cackle that was supposed to be the said frog croak. I am not sure what to make of this response but I'm guessing the prospective beau would be rebuffed and look for more promising prospects. Her buddy B whispers and giggles with the C whenever she gets a chance to sit next to him. C is yet to get over his kindergarten romance and does not pay much attention to B. J thinks C is cute and she could "like" him but never "love" him. J as it turns out exercises caution when it comes to the use of the word "love" though she can be quite wanton with "like".

In the middle of all this "romancing" that happens when the kids are in the cafeteria for lunch, C and J got chatting about what animals they and their family members remind them of. Clearly this made for very stimulating conversation because J could not wait to tell me all about it even as dinner turned cold. C said his Dad is a killer whale because he eats so much. I see his dad at the bus stop everyday and can't believe that - he is very trim and fit. J said her Mom was a monkey because she ate bananas for breakfast every single day.

"What about Grandma, Grandpa and you ? What animals are you guys like ?" I asked. J was a chipmunk not sure why - she did not care to elaborate. Grandma was a dolphin "because she prays like the dolphin swims" - my mother is a Reiki healer. Grandpa was a salamander. She had no trouble explaining the salamander "Because he does nothing and sits all day long" - which is how she's seen him when he visits us here. It is also true that he has no hobbies and struggles to occupy himself now that he has retired from a job that kept him busy twelve hours a day for over thirty five years.

I thought it was an interesting segue from chatting about the latest crushes in class - which needless to say is very instructive for me in more ways than one.

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