Oh Young Love

Everyday, my students write in their journals for about 5-10 minutes. They are allowed to write about whatever they want, but we always talk about ideas that they can write about. This week, I've given them ideas like "What is the best part about Valentine's Day?" or "What are some things that you love?" Then, at the end of journal time, they can turn their journals in for me to read and respond to if they want. There is one boy in my class who turns in his journal everyday. He is more on the quiet side and is shy about talking in front of the class or sharing his thoughts and feelings, but he is VERY open, blunt and honest in his journal. :) I always look forward to reading his journal because it makes me laugh everyday. Anyway, today was the BEST journal entry of all:

Dear Journal,

So our Valentine's Party is tomorrow. Well, don't tell anyone, but I am making a special Valentine for T. Don't tell the class who it is from, promise?
Here's a preview:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
My heart belongs
To only YOU.

Well, that's all for now.
-C

Cute?! I did NOT expect this AT ALL from this one particular boy! But, it just goes to show you YOUNG LOVE is real haha. I didn't think I would be dealing with this kind of stuff, but I have heard SO much of it. I had one girl tell me, "The boy I love is in this class, and he loves me back." And they sit by each other on the carpet, and always call on each other and want to be partners for everything. Wow. And these are 7 years olds!! :)

One more funny story. So, whenever my kids finish reading a chapter book, they do a "book talk" where they just tell their favorite part and a little about the book. One girl read a book called "Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren." So I, knowing full well the potential of hilarious responses, asked, "What does it mean if you are handsome?" All the boys hide their faces in their hands and wail, "Ehh! yuck!" as the girls' hands eagerly shoot up to answer my question. I called on one girl and she declared, "You know, like a prince is handsome." Then I asked further, "Well what makes a price handsome?" Another girl answered, "Maybe because he's cute?" I called on one more girl who pointed her finger as she answered, "Like, T...he's handsome." T is a boy in our class...who immediately turned BRIGHT red and made a face as if to say, "I have no idea what she is talking about." All the girls nodded in agreement and determined that yes, we had officially found the definition of handsome. :) Well done ladies haha.

Sometimes I think back...was I ever like that? I remember being in 2nd grade and a boy liked me and carved me a whale out of wood and drew me a picture. I remember being mortified, going home and crying because I was so embarrassed and didn't want to hurt his feelings because I didn't like him back. So are kids just different now than back when I was little? Who knows. All I know is they SURE ARE CUTE!!!

Life is wonderful!!