First Crush

My daughter, Lily, has her first crush. She’s three. She has fallen for my cousin Niall. He’s almost 30. Lily is a social and friendly child who has been known to hug and kiss a perfect stranger. But it’s different with Niall. She’s giggly and nervous around him and won’t leave his side. Niall earned Lily’s devotion by joining her for tea. This was a complicated process involving a couple hundred pink and purple beads and a plastic singing teapot. For some reason, she called him “Karen” for a while. Now she refers to him as “the Man.”

Niall told her he had to use the bathroom. Lily ran ahead of him to the guest bathroom. Apparently unaware of the social aspects of toilet use, Niall went the opposite direction. I found Lily sitting atop the commode, wiggling in excited anticipation. When asked if I could use the toilet, Lily responded, “No, mommy. The Man has to go to the bathroom.”
“Who?”
“The Man.”
“Who is the Man?”
“The Man is my friend!”
She was crushed to learn that not only had the Man evaded her company, but also that she would not be allowed to join him. Fortunately, his reappearance quelled any further ado.