Love at the Mall

We've gotten into the habit, E and me, of taking walks each day around noon. This works well at the moment as it coincides nicely with nap time and the early spring weather is lovely. This past week, however, we've had a brush of summer in the air. In order to avoid melting, I decided that we would do our daily walk at the mall this past Thursday to take advantage of the free A/C.

The local mall has a play area that is always swarming with children (usually significantly taller than the welcoming Kangaroo says should play there) but, being a weekday, was relatively tame during our visit. E explored a tunnel, a ladybug, and attempted to steal another child's shoes before she discovered a little red car available for her use. She climbed in and happily chatted while spinning the steering wheel. A little girl, perhaps 4 or 5, came to investigate. She was nervous that I was right next to the car but succeeded in getting E's attention. Being very social, E thought this was fantastic news. It got even better when she noticed, over this girl's shoulder, a boy. Maybe 2 years old. With dark hair and Asian eyes.

She waved and he toddled over to wave back. They sat in the car together. She let him drive. I told her this was the only time she would ever be allowed to sit in a car with a boy. He was quite smitten- his mother mentioned he normally runs all over the place. Today he was content to play quietly with E in the red car. Ah, young love.

Good thing Daddy wasn't there. He's declared that E won't be allowed to date until she's 35.