Spring Fever Again

Is spring here already or something? Besides the welcome but misleading sight of daffodils blooming outside my kitchen window since last week, you’d think, from the way my children were acting, it was.

I have written, two years ago, about how spring fever affects school children.

Spring fever is said to be driven by the body’s reaction to its changing environment; the increased amount of sunlight. As a result of improved moods, kids become more restless, disruptive, rowdy and generally silly. The onset of spring also brings a better climate for romance in mammals, including humans.

And, according to after-school reports from my lot, romance is in full swing in the playground.

Master Eight comes home from school last week full of the story how (we shall name them) Nate and Chloe fell in love that day.

Apparently they declared their love for one another by revealing their ‘crush’ written in their books. When they both saw each other’s names, embarrassed, they ran away in opposite directions.

And so began their romance.

The next day, for once, Master Eight was chaffing at the bit to get out the door.

“What time do gates open again?” he asked for the tenth time.

“Ten past eight,” I answered for the tenth time. “Why?”

“Because I want to get up to school to get on the computer first to play Minecraft.”

Yeah right.

Earlier that morning he’d got out of bed to tell me Nate and Chloe were having a wedding that day.

“But you don’t just ‘fall in love’ and then get married the next day!” I told him.

Despite his denials, this whole romance thing was clearly intriguing him and he shot off out the door to school to, no doubt, not miss the impending nuptials. 

When I look back at my previous story on this topic, it would seem nothing has changed. Boyfriends, girlfriends, getting dumped and marriage are still hot topics in our household but, still in denial - as far as my boys are concerned, girls are disgusting and vice-versa.   

However, their behaviour would suggest otherwise: Earlier in the week, after I’d dropped the kids off and was walking back across the playground I saw a bunch of giggling boys being chased by a pack of giggling five-year-old girls and was not surprised to find it was Master Eight and co. But I was surprised to find shy Miss Five at the helm of the pack of giggling girls. Both sides seemed to be having a ball.

But back to the “wedding of the year”: According to Master Eight, despite his best efforts to stop it, the wedding went ahead. Chloe and Nate exchanged loom band rings before kissing and running off – in opposite directions of course.