He’s not with his son, but this picture was too cute for me to resist!

One of the Munchkin’s oldest and best friends is a girl.

Well, was one of his best friends.

I’ll get to that in a moment.

They attended the same preschool, kindergarten, and are currently at the same school for first grade, although not in the same class.  They’ve been to each other’s houses for birthday parties, gone to the movies together, had playdates galore, gone trick or treating together, and basically hung out like good friends do.

The other day I asked him how Jessica* was doing. 

“Oh, we’re not friends anymore.”

Wait, what?

When pressed for details, he explained to me that both of them are being teased by people calling them “boyfriend” and “girlfriend,” girls are the anti-christ, yadda yadda yadda.

In the first grade? Already?

I knew that at some point some kids would say something similar, but I didn’t expect it until much later.

Silly, stupid me.

Don’t I know that kids are becoming mini-adults at an ever earlier age?

When I was in first grade, I’m not sure I even knew what a “boyfriend” was.  And I had a very good friend who happened to be a boy, and it wasn’t until middle school where things got a bit awkward and we kind of went our separate ways, but with no bad feelings.  But then again, I”ve been told that I was quite sheltered as a youth. 

So, what’s next?

Do I tell him to shrug off what is apparently some pretty serious peer pressure?  Do I condone only being friends outside of school, and pretending at school that they aren’t?  Or do I just let the drama play out as it will and not be a helicopter parent?

But I sure do have a strong desire to fire up those blades right about now.

*not her real name, obviously

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