The Boy Next Door

Turtle and Monkey have a crush on the adorable 5-year-old boy who lives two houses to the left of us in our cul-de-sac. I’ll call him “Boy.” I know the girls are too young for me to call this a crush, but I’m not sure what else to name it – fascination? All I know is that at random times throughout the day, they ask for “mas Boy.”

It started sometime in September, once it was cool enough to play outside during the 5 o’clock hour. Boy and his family get home sometime after 5 every weekday, and he and his two sisters (one older, one younger) get out their bikes and ride around the cul-de-sac. I’ve always taken the girls out to watch the older kids ride their bikes, even before they could walk, but this season they suddenly noticed Boy hot-rodding around the cul-de-sac on his two-wheeled bike or his scooter. From then on it’s been all “mas Boy, mas Boy” every day. The minute they see the family’s car pull into the cul-de-sac, they start yelling “Boy, outside, Boy, Boy, Boy,” and there is a mad dash to put on shoes so we can get out there.

Once we are outside, they run to the edge of our driveway, sit down, and watch him ride. If he goes inside for a minute, they say his name over and over until he comes back. Monkey usually brings our basket of chalk from the front steps and says, “Boy, draw, Boy draw.” Occasionally he stops to draw in the street but usually I have to say, “Monkey, Boy wants to ride his bike right now, not draw.”

I will admit that I’ve encouraged this fascination. It’s so darn cute, and it’s also a fantastic break to have an older kid entertain the girls for awhile while I just sit there and watch. He’s a good example, too. Because Boy wears his bike helmet, the girls put on their own helmets without argument. They’re also a little more interested in actually figuring out how to ride their tricycles on their own, so they can play with Boy in the cul-de-sac without me and Twin Daddy tagging along.

What does Boy think about this? I’m pretty sure he loves it - who doesn’t love an adoring audience? He always comes over to say hello and talk to “the babies.” He’ll occasionally bring his little lawn chairs over to our driveway for the girls to sit in while they watch him. And if we aren’t outside by the time he starts riding his bike, he just bikes right up to our front door to get our attention. When I open the door, he asks the girls, “Do you want to watch me ride my bike?”

Yes, we do, thank you very much.