Once Upon a Week - The Kiss

Circus performers
Sophia on her 5th birthday with little sister Oona 

It was a Wednesday, an ordinary day or so it seemed until the walk home from school. The sun was shining and Sophia had met me at the classroom as usual, bag heavy with the day, cardigan slung over her shoulder, hair disheveled no doubt from a day of racing around the playground and enjoying the freedom from the classroom. We walked home Oona singing in the buggy "the more we get together, together, together. The more we get together the happier we'll be. Because my friends are your friends....." and so on. Only repeating it before it ended and of course with all the actions that accompany it too.
Sophia was asked all the usual questions; " How was your day?", "Did you have a nice lunch?", hoping lunch was not the same as the supper I had planned! There was a pause in our conversation followed by a "mu-um", the kind "mu-um" which usually precedes a request for something extraordinary like a treat or a telltale story of some happening at school whereby so and so did this and so and so is going here. I was ready for the auto response of "It's not treat day today...." and "Well, so and so probably shouldn't have done that (insert appropriate response)." But, no, today the walk home was discovering soemthing completely different than so and so is off to disneyland for the weekend.
I was not expecting, for some time I might add, my only-just-turned-5-year-old daughter to say:


S: _____ kissed me!

M: Really!?! Where did he kiss you?

S: Well, (she raises a hand out palm to the sky, one hand still cruising the scooter) first he kissed me on the hand, then he asked me to marry him, and.....then he kissed me on the lips.

M: How did it feel?

S: Kinda, well, a bit yucky. (looks confused/disappointed)

M: It gets better. (immediately realising that perhaps that wasn't the right thing to say)

S: I hope so.

There's another pause, both of us digesting what it all means.

M: So where were you when you kissed? (trying to get a picture of it all, surely it was part of some game or just a silly thing whilst getting a reading book)

S: Well, (I can't believe she's starting conversations with 'well' as though she's 18 and chatting to her girlfriends) he tricked me!..... He came over and said 'I've got a really good game" and I was tired from all the other games so I just said 'ok'. Then he kissed me!

M: So you didn't know he was going to kiss you! It was a complete surpirse!

S: Yeah! It was in the corner of the playground you know that bit by the side of the building.

M: Did your friends see you? (trying to ascertain if they were alone)

S: No, but we told _____ and _______ .

M: what did they say?

S: They laughed and said 'yuck' and ran off!
I think _____ and I will get married. Can I wear your wedding dress?

M: Of course you can. Though you might not be tall enough for it now. You know that a boy has to ask the father if he can marry his daughter? So ______ will have to ask daddy if he wants to marry you.

S: Why does he have to ask daddy?

M: Well I guess it's important to daddy's to know that their daughters will be happy with who they get married to, and daddy has to 'give you away', if he's going to give you to someone he wants to know that he is good enough.

S: I think he is good and we can live next to you.

M: Well I'm not sure if daddy is ready to give you away yet.

We walk in silence a bit more. I've got a million questions running round my head and Sophia is scooting home as though she has wings powering her along. There is suddenly a different feeling to her and I realise she is in love.
She is far off in front of me now and yet seems so much taller than she did when I dropped her off at school. And, she is. She's taller, she's that little bit more grown up she is very much a young girl. No longer my 'baby'. I think to myself 'This will be the first love of her life' and smile.

Though I don't think we'll be inviting ________ over to play!

Who remembers their first love, their first kiss?

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This is the third in a new series where we give you an insight into the lives and times behind the scenes of Sisters Guild.

We also publish other series in our blog including our Monday Makery, Tuesday brings the closing of our series 'The  Story Behind Our Collections' inviting you to take a closer look at the designers we house and the beginning of a new series 'Tell Us Its Tuesday'.  Wednesday we show you our favourite seasonal pieces and Thursdays is dedicated to the 'Art of Living' in which we share ideas and inspiration from places to visit, things to see and articles about things that enrich our lives.


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