The girl with two novios

For all those stressed about upcoming Valentine's celebrations, either lonely at the lack of a significant other or wondering just how to remind a beloved that they are truly loved, imagine how much easier things were when you were a child. When everyone in school decorated brown paper bags with red hearts and doilies, and teachers mandated that if you were to pass out any cards at all you had to have enough for everyone. Moreover, the whole question of significant others takes on different meaning through the eyes of a child.

After gym class the other day, my second-graders were lining up to go inside. Divided by an invisible barrier, the boys stayed to the front of the line discussing the merits of Real Madrid versus FC Barcelona while the girls sniffed at the kiddie-perfume they'd dabbed on to their wrists at the back of the line. As we waited for the bell to ring, Javi-the-gym-teacher reminded the kids that Valentine's was coming up. Two boys wanted to let Javi know about their girlfriend--singular (nuestra novia). Javi and I expressed shock.
"You both have the same girlfriend?"
The boys shrugged their shoulders. "Sure, why not?" They were good friends and shared many other things in their lives--juice boxes, crayons--so why not a girlfriend?
"Well, who is it?" Javi asked.
"Andrea," they said.
Javi and I went to the back of the line where Andrea was twirling her hair unsuspectingly. He asked if she knew she had two boyfriends. She said she didn't, though she seemed unfazed by the idea that two of the boys in class would have put forth the idea. Javi and I went to the front of the line again.
"Andrea says she has no boyfriend," Javi asserted to the young Romeos. They shrugged again.
"She's wrong," they said. "We are her boyfriends."