The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants

A few weeks ago, Little Dude made a new best friend at Preschool. And while I regarded this little vixen with great suspicion at first, she has finally won over my heart.

It all started early last week when Hubby was picking up our son from preschool. He called to tell me that he had met Lily and she and Little Dude were walking around holding hands. "It was so cute," he said.

The next morning as I was chatting with one of the teachers, the subject of best friends coincidentally came up. (And by "coincidentally" I mean I steered the conversation in a direction that naturally led to such a discussion, of course.) So I took the opportunity to ask about my boy's new best friend.

Miss Nikki told me that the two of them were "totally cute" together. She said that they probably liked each other because they were both smart and both were on the same level with their speech (advanced, talking clearly, using big words and long sentences). Then I found out that - gasp! - Lily's an older woman. Yes, she's 4. Oh, the scandal! I'm guessing that Little Dude must have met her on one of the rare occasions when he got to hang out in the 4-year-olds class. (That's a whole other story. The 4-year-olds teacher can't wait to have him in her class but the 3-year-olds teachers don't want him to go!)

Somehow Little Dude and Lily have managed to convince all the teachers to let her stay in the 3s class with him. They sit together. They play together. They eat together. They nap together. They play Power Rangers and Husband-and-Wife together. They have fun together.

Then last Friday I actually got to spend some time with the two of them together. The school was having their annual Easter party complete with a visit from the Easter Bunny. Since I have Good Friday off, I decided to spend a few hours in Little Dude's class.

As soon as I walked in, I spotted my little guy sitting at one of the tables with an adorable little brunette dressed up in a cute little sundress. As soon as she looked up at me and smile, my heart melted.

Little Dude wanted me to sit with him. Lily wanted me to sit with them. Little Dude said he wanted me to stay all day with him. Lily said she wanted me to stay all day with them. When I asked Lily why she wanted me to stay, she said, "Because he [Little Dude] wants you to stay and you're his mom." Wow. The girl knows how to win over a boy's mom.

Lily, Little Dude and Heather

We painted eggs and then it was time to meet the Easter bunny. When Lily saw I had my camera, she quickly put her arm around Little Dude, and they both smiled for the camera. Another point for Lily! After the Easter Bunny visit, we all headed outside for the Easter egg hunt. While all the other kids turned into little Tasmanian Devils and ran off in a hundred different directions (even through I was sure there were less than 20 kids), Little Dude and his best friend hunted for eggs together.

The kids all went back inside to decorate their eggs and I watched as my little guy raced to make sure he got a seat next to Lily. He got really upset when another kid tried to take his chair. Later, during recess, the best friends played with other kids, but they would still call to each other from across the yard: "Red Ranger! Red Ranger!" "Pink Ranger, over here!" (Little Dude has decided that he is the Red Power Ranger and Lily is the Pink Power Ranger.) Adorable. And another point for not excluding other kids!

Lining up to hunt Easter eggs. Notice that Little Dude and Lily are holding hands. Sweet!

When we went back inside for lunch, Lily waited for Little Dude to take his turn washing his hands so that they could sit next to each other at the lunch tables. Sweet! Another point for her thoughtfulness.

Ok, so Lovely Lily has won me over. What a sweetheart. I can see why my little guy thinks the world of her. I'm sure he'll have his heart broken when she leaves for Kindergarten next year while he's still in Pre-K. But that's still months away. In the meantime, he's enjoying his new best friend.

Of course, I wonder what her parents must think of all this?