Cute boy?

We met some folks at the park last week. It has been a very loose group of folks from L's old preschool who meet there every Tuesday morning. The weeks when I remember, it has been really nice to see folks and for L to play with some of old buddies.

This past Tuesday, we were watching some friends, a girl L's age and her older brother, who is six. He was VERY happy when one of his older buddies showed up with his dad and 3-year-old sister. The three girls commenced playing together as did the two older boys. The girls occupied themselves over under the pavilion doing dances on the "stage" (picnic table). The boys were busy with some game in a different part of the park.

The two sets of siblings seemed to be completely ignoring one another and only my little one seemed interested in bridging the gap. The older boys were leaving them completely alone (something I always liked as the youngest child with 3 older brothers) but L kept creeping over to the boys and then it took very little to get them trying to take her toy or flower or telling her to buzz off. I only intervened once (when it looked like some spiting might be happening--- gross!). Of course, the little sisters always came running to save their buddy from their evil older brothers.

At one point, I looked at L and thought to myself, "That looks a lot like flirting to me." I immediately put that idea out of my head as I can't stand it when people put all that boyfriend/girlfriend shit on toddlers who are just having fun together.

Later that day, I asked her how her day had been. She replied, "Good because Wyatt made it good." I quickly picked my jaw up off the floor and said something mumbly like, "He is a nice friend." She then started spilling the beans. She told me that she liked going to the park that day because of Wyatt and then she said, "He's really cute."

WTF?

I am thinking to myself, "I am not ready for this!" I asked, "Is he cute like a baby or cute like a big kid?" She replied that he is cute like a big kid and she likes him because he makes her smile and he smiles at her.

She brought him up several more times that day INCLUDING when Papa got home from work! When he asked about her day she talked about Wyatt and kept bringing him up whenever she could.

It seems to have passed but I guess she was flirting after all. Looking back, I think I have seen her flirt with as many girls as boys and usually I lump it all together with that older-kid-worship thing we have all seen.

I promise not to let my jaw completely drop to the floor again the next time she talks about someone being "cute" but I am SOOO not ready for boy-craziness. I am hoping for another decade before I have to tame that Wild Thing.