They Grow Up So Fast

It seems that life has hit light speed since I had kids.  I'm not sure what is it about having children throws the time space continuum out of whack but every parent will tell you that life progressed slower until the day their first child entered the world. It is a moment that changes everything. Expectations form, plans are made and goals are set. You worry about everything from feeding, sleeping, diapers to crawling, walking, putting everything in their mouths and teething. Accidents and that first illness can throw you for a loop.The next day its preschool and then kindergarten. You worry about them making friends and can they act right...what do they say when you're not around (a particularly troubling worry for me)? Are they well-liked? Then as time passes you worry about those coming teenage years, puberty and beginning interest in the opposite sex.
My first grader arrived home the other night with a girls phone number folded on a little piece of paper in the pocket of his shorts. Seriously, a girls phone number? A little girl in his class (another 6 year old) told him that she liked him and she wanted him to give her a call on the phone! He was a bit mystified about the incident. And I am not happy. Sure, he's cute but what six year old girl passes out her phone number? I didn't  have the balls to hand out my number unsolicited even in college.
Here I was thinking I didn't have to worry about girls until he was older. And then I thought it would be him I'd have to worry trying to take advantage of girls. That I would need to try and drill it in his thick hormone driven skull to leave the girls alone. He hasn't asked to call her. I'm not sure that I'd let him. Her parents might feel the same way that I do.
I told my friend, Mooney, about it. He got all 'way to go boy' over it then I posed it to him differently. His daughter is a year ahead of WC. How would you feel if Nan gave her number to some boy? The laughter stopped. "Well, I wouldn't like it," he replied. He thought for a minute. "Not much I could do about it...but I wouldn't like it." Exactly my point. There's plenty of time for dealing with the opposite sex. No need to start so young. Why are these kids in such a hurry to grow up?
I want my sons to be innocent children for as long as possible. But in today's world that's a tough order to fill.