I guess the urge to protect fair damsels and defend the castle is instinctive. My daughter’s friend David, a sweet little boy who has yet to turn 4, demonstrated his manly courage with an endearing show of bravado at the park yesterday. He and my daughter had the playground to themselves until some ruffians (2 eight-year old boys on bikes) appeared to stir things up. One of the elder gentleman dared to engage my daughter in conversation, saying, “Wow, you’re fast!” as she zoomed by him. To which David shouted, “Hey! She’s MY friend!” He then moved to stand next to her and place a rather possessive hand on her back (which launched me into giggles, since this is exactly what my husband does when he suspects some guy is checking me out).
Well, it wasn’t long before the older boys decided to move on, and as they rode off, David stood on the top of the plastic hill and crowed, “I protected Aishtyn! I kept her safe!” Then he looked down to his damsel and said, “All aboard, ladies!” No strapping hero standing aboard some ship on the cover of a romance novel could have been more debonair.
Of course, on the walk back, our hero was crying in fits of rage because his lady fair was going to arrive at the car first…but hey, nobody’s perfect.
Melonie Johnson 