P1 Romances

It has been said that the students in my classroom have more relationship problems than I do. Some days I take this as a blessing and other days I hide my head in shame at my inability to push myself into the challenge of building a romance. My friends back home are constantly messaging me asking me for advice after dates with various male specimen they find at bars, coffee shops, the gym, or online. If only it was this simple for me. I swear they have done more dating in the last month than I have in my entire life. Seriously ya'll! I have no experience!

I found this interesting article about expat dating in Indonesia and found myself able to relate to the majority of it.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/04/28/loveless-across-borders.html

One boy in our classroom asked if I was married and when I responded with no he said," It's alright Miss, you can choose a man tomorrow." As if it is as simple as choosing what to wear for the day or what to have for breakfast.

This has nothing to do with this post or my life. I guess that I feel like if I were to fall in love right now I'd definitely feel like I had done something terrible. I mostly just thought this was beautiful writing.

To get back to the point, there are some very intriguing blossoming romances in P1. The other day one of our students wrote I love Tammy, (using pseudonyms here) and my partner teacher pulled him aside to ask him about it. He told her that he had loved Tammy since K1 (2 years ago) and that once he had told her that she had beautiful eyes, but that Tammy had simply replied with "What are you talking about?" Ria (my partner) then went on to say I need to find a man who compliments me on my eyes. Now, to be honest men have complimented me on my eyes and I have done, more or less, nothing about it. *sigh* To get back to the point....

There are more P1 romances being cooked up. Tammy has admitted that she likes a different boy in our class! (More like there was a note in her bag with the boy's name inside a heart.) The craziness of it! Love triangles! Between 5 and 6 year olds!  I also heard one of the other female students whispering about her boyfriend to another classmate. I have no idea who her "boyfriend" is, but I have my guesses. Another one of our students is very clearly in love with a 4th grader. She will constantly remark that he carries her bag for her, walks her to her door (they live in the same building) and he helps her with her homework. Once again I was told I need a man like this. I'm working on it world!

Then we have another 2 students who are clearly in a relationship. they always play together during snack time, and have been caught holding hands. One time Frank tried to help Shannon with her math work and told her to try harder because he needed to have a smart girlfriend.

When one of the single boys in our class started to realize couples were pairing off he was quick to mention it to his best friend, who happens to be another boy. Allan noted all the partnerships to Robby and then said they must stick together.

Among all this craziness of 6 year old romances I have learned a few things about relationships at all ages:

1. Females prefer mature, and smart males who treat them with courtesy.
2. Females don't take compliments well.
3. Relationships are complicated and it is guaranteed that some people will get hurt.
4. The fun you have along the way makes the hurt worth it.
5. Relationships comes in all shapes and sizes and you can never recreate one.
6. Some feelings cannot be erased by time.
7. Love/Infatuation makes us do crazy things.
8. No one wants to end up alone.
9. The heart wants what it wants.
10. Everyone believes in love at some point in their life.

So, while I may be either envious of my students, or content to be without their drama, they have managed to teach me a little something this week.