Ladies' Man

Yesterday I watched Alex make a new friend. The little girl next door had been watching him surreptitiously from her own yard for a good half an hour when I pointed out to my oblivious boy that it looked like she wanted to say hi. So he went out onto our front patio, waved at her, and immediately turned away to see to the very pressing task of picking up gumballs and sticks and throwing them into the front yard.

And so it went—the little girl swinging her pink vinyl purse and watching Alex do his unique brand of gardening, me wondering if I should help somehow or just let them do their kid thing—until the child’s mother walked over. We chatted our way through a decidedly different social dance than our little people were doing, and Alex and the little girl, whose name is either Olivia or Lydia, with the corresponding nickname of either Livvy or Liddy (in some incarnation) eventually drifted over to her yard to play. “Play,” from my vantage point (which was peering through the open door and spying like a freak to make sure he wasn’t bothering the nice people) seemed to consist of a silent hunt for four-leaf clovers in the weeds with an occasional burst of hysterical (and seemingly random) laughter.

It was, I say without a trace of sarcasm, fascinating.

When I finally called Alex back inside for dinner and exchanged the “Let’s get them together” conversational wrap-up with Livvy/Liddy’s mother, she made my day by telling me that he was the sweetest and most polite little boy she’s ever met. (She glossed over a story about a former neighbor child who liked to throw rocks at Livvy/Liddy, so I’m not entirely sure what kind of measuring stick she was using. Still! Proud mama here.)

Alex was thrilled with himself. He did not, however, catch her name, so she shall remain “That Girl” until and if he remembers to ask her. He wants to put a note in her mailbox today, and I’m trying to figure out how to urge him in a different direction, because he dictated his note to me:

I had fun playing with you today. Next time I see you, come to my house and we can have a sleepover.

And so he grows.