Kisses

For the longest time, Luca resisted any and all affection from Diana and me. He would struggle out of our hugs and scream bloody murder when we tried to kiss him. We used to force him to kiss us to gain access to the X-Box or TV time. And he would seriously consider if it was worth playing his favorite video game to have to stoop to putting his lips on our cheek.

But over the last few months, he’s become a real love bug. He will shout from the other room, “Dada!  I LOVE you!”  And mean it. Really mean it. He shouts at Diana his love for her, shouts at Hannah his love for her. Eli? Not so much. He crawls in bed with us to cuddle at all hours of the night.

And he kisses. A lot.

A little while ago, he told me very matter of factly that he kisses his cousin Rory on the lips when she comes over to visit.  They go hide in his bunk and smooth the day away.  I told him it wasn’t exactly legal for them to get married, but for now some innocent kissing cousin action was ok.

Yesterday, he told me he also kisses his friend Luciano on the lips in school. “Dad. Sometimes I kiss Luciano in front of my class.”

Sheesh, this kid gets around.

My reaction was of course supportive of his man on man kissing. I’m not going to be the guy who discourages that. I don’t own a gun rack or a confederate flag sticker on my truck. So as a liberal I am duty bound to say, “Cool man. Kissing Luciano sounds like a great way to spend a school day.

I asked him how the rest of his class reacts to this public display of affection and he said, “Oh. No one cares.”

Welcome to Evanston in 2014.