One Smart Little Monkey

So this weekend we took the step-monkey to her first wedding (other than ours, of course) and needless to say, she had an excellent time. The bride was Italian-Canadian, the groom Macedonian-Portuguese, and so it's no surprise that the meal took 3 hours to eat (not including the sweets table or the midnight seafood buffet!) But this story isn't about the food. This story is about what smart cookie my little step-monkey is. I'll paint you the picture...

We're in the reception hall filled with hundreds of European-Canadians (I'll not comment on the array of tragic fashion statements made by these many guests, just know that there were more than a few!)

The dance floor is over-run with little girls, mostly in puffy white dresses and they are running themselves ragged. At the table next to ours is a little boy, probably about 4 or 5 years of age. His name is Andrew and he is in trouble pretty much from his arrival on. He is also out on the dance floor, terrorizing the girls with whom he clearly wants to play, but his manner is so rough that he simply cannot be abided. Step-monkey runs over to us at our table from the dance floor and professes that she "doesn't like that mean little boy!" He is trying to push around everybody that comes in his way. I am ready to push him around should he attempt to do the same with my step-daughter. However, I try I different tact instead. I tell step-monkey that she should let Andrew know that if he wants to play with them, he's going to have to be nice. She does, he does, and moments later, step-monkey comes back to the table to report that Andrew "has learned his lesson." Awesome.

The two proceed to amuse each other for most of the evening. At one point they come over to our table to ask if Andrew can come over for a sleep-over. Andrew gives me his phone number. I'm not kidding. My 6 year old picked up at a wedding! However, things took a turn for the worse as the evening wore on. It went something like this:

Andrew pushes the flower girl down, step-monkey scolds Andrew for this and he turns on her, trying to push her down (not likely by the way, she's about a half a head taller than this little Portuguese boy). Step monkey walks away from Andrew. She comes to the table and tells me that she does not want to call him or have him over for a sleep over. The romance is ended. She tells me, "I broke up with him."

She broke up with him!

Maybe it's just me, but I am both horrified at, amused by and proud of my little step-monkey's behaviour. I can't say that I want her to be making sleep-over plans with little boys that she's just met, but I am very glad to see that she's not the sort to let anybody push her around. Good thing for Andrew. I was ready to take him outside for a little chat!