Girl-friend..?

“Mom, which is the tallest mountain in the world?” asked my elder one with a Let-me-test-your-IQ look on his face.

Pat came my reply,“ ‘Mount Everest’, whoever wouldn’t  know it?”

“Wrong mom, it’s Mauna Key, in the pacific ocean.” He corrected me, launching into a detailed explanation why it was the tallest.

While I admired how he had become a walking encyclopedia in our house, I was a little worried about his social skills. Was he making friends? I decided to ask him.

“Beta, who is your best friend in school?”

He seemed to ponder for a while before asking me back, “Girl or boy?”

Oh, so he had friends among girls too. Good for him, he is not as shy as I thought he was!

“Both” I wanted to know.

“Aadya and Samanyu.”

He had spoken to me about the boy, how they had been always fighting at first and then they became best buddies. But the girl..? Why didn’t he tell me? I must ask…

“Hmm…nice name, Aadya. New girl in class?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you before, she’s my girlfriend.” He said as a matter of fact.

Did he just say girlfriend? For god’s sake he was not even 9, and here he was talking of girlfriends!

“Of course, girl-friends and boy-friends..”

“No, not girlfriend as in girl-friend, but girlfriend.” He said without batting an eyelid.

I was suddenly very uncomfortable. A 9 year old explaining to me the difference between girl-friend and girlfriend, ha! But I carried it on like a normal chat.

“Great, and how did you two become friends, I am sure there’s an interesting story like the one with Samanyu.” I said trying to sound pleasant.

“ Yea, mom, I was playing with my friends, running around when I crashed into Aadya. She was so angry that she wanted to complain to the teacher. I gave her a friendship band and said sorry, and she did not complain. Isn’t that sweet? Then she got a friendship band the next day and gave to another friend asking him to give it to me. And then we became the best of friends! To me, she’s extra special.”

“Sweet..”

Hubby dearest was looking at me quite amused at our conversation. He signaled at me to stop. When the elder one went out to play, I went back to my hubby.

“Oh my god, look at this generation. Can you imagine a girlfriend at 9 years?”

“For god’s sake, he is only a child. Stop going into overdrive”

“Overdrive? He knows the difference between girl-friend and girlfriend.”

“Don’t be silly, he is growing up and seeing so much around him. It is natural for him to feel and talk that way. I’d be worried if he didn’t!” he winked.

“You bet, he is going to bring a girl home one day and say, mom, she is your bahu.”

He burst out laughing. “Oh you and that screwed up brain of yours. Be thankful that he trusts you enough to tell you every single happening in his life. Now, don’t you scare him with your silly thoughts and advices that he stops being open with you.”

Now, that was a thought. I was indeed being silly.

“I guess you are right. By the way, who was your first girlfriend?”

Hubby dearest had a far away look in his eyes and a smile beginning to spread on his lips.

“I was in class 4, and she taught us Maths….Sarika Ma’m, yes that was her name….”

“Really?”  My ears were all perked up. “….And…” I asked rolling my eyes.

“And what? that’s it!” he baulked looking at me , standing with my hand on my hips. “Oh no,not again…”he said shaking his head,  eyes closed as if in thought.

(image courtesy :google)