Overheard.....

My hubby and I spent a delightful afternoon on the porch swing yesterday, talking about lots of different things. For much of this time we were joined by several of the neighbor children. Sadly, we have several children on our street growing up without their dads, either because of divorce or because their parents were never married to begin with and are no longer together. It is therefore somewhat novel for these children to see a younger (as in, not the age of their grandparents) married couple enjoying each other's company. Here is part of our conversation:

Neighbor girl S: Why are you and him still married?

Me: Because we love each other and we made a promise to each other and to God that we would stay married.

Neighbor girl T: My dad makes lots of promises but he breaks them all the time.

Hubby: Well, sometimes adults mean well, but they don't think things through carefully before making a promise, and they should.

Neighbor girl T: My dad was going to marry his girlfriend, but then he dumped her.

Me: Oh?

Neighbor girl T: He found out that they don't really have that much in common. He's going to take back the rings he bought. Can I see your ring?

(me, holding out my hand with beautiful wedding ring on it)

Neighbor girl T: Oooooh, that's so pretty!

Me: Thank you! I love it. Mr. ____ gave it to me when we got married, and every time I look at it, it reminds me of the promises we made that day.

Neighbor girl S (who has climbed up into hubby's lap): I'm going to marry Derek because he's really cute. But A (our little man) is really cute too.

Hubby: Well, just because a guy is cute doesn't mean he would be a very good husband. Can you think of what would make a man a good husband?

Neighbor girl S (holding her chin in her hand and gazing upward momentarily): Nope. (then, changing the subject) I sometimes kiss A (our little man) but I keep it a secret because I know you wouldn't like it.

Me: Well, we don't want you to kiss people right now that aren't in your family, and we don't want our boys kissing people that aren't in their family.

Neighbor girl S: But I don't kiss him on the lips! I kiss his cheek.

Me: I'm glad to hear that, but we still don't want either of you to kiss people that aren't in your family.

(note to self: talk about kissing with the kids again! And pray like crazy for these precious children growing up with a skewed image of marriage and romance).