Love and the 5th Grade Boy

As Jackson was getting ready for bed last night I went to his bedroom door to ask him a question. I obviously surprised him as he jumped and quickly stuck something in his pajama bottoms. In his hand he was holding a pair of scissors...

My mind immediately went to the worse cased scenario, especially in this age of easy access to all things immoral.

It didn't help my suspicions that he was completely mortified that I had caught him with whatever he'd been doing. No matter how I prompted, kindly and thoughtfully I might add, he wouldn't give up his secret.

So I went downstairs. A few minutes later, he came down and went to the trash can to stuff in whatever he'd been hiding. His Dad walked in behind him, completely oblivious to what had happened upstairs. So, of course, he wants to know what he's hiding!

By this point Jackson is completely devastated that both his parents have caught him hiding his stuff. He begs us to stop "interrogating" him and goes to bed.

I, being the good mother that I am, go into the trash can to fish out the contraband.
What I discovered broke my heart...

It was a note from his beloved 5th grade crush, Betsy -- to another boy. He had somehow got his hands on this at school and confiscated it so the other boy wouldn't see. Before he destroyed the evidence he needed to cut one thing out for himself...Betsy's phone number.

Innocence lost? Not for my 11 year old son -- he's just lost in love!