Young Heartbreak

There's nothing that hurts so much as the heartbreak of first love. Nothing except maybe the loss of a first bestie.

At the tender age of 3, my oldest daughter made her first (ok second but really who's counting) best friend. She was gregarious, fun, smart, adventurous she had a sister who was a year younger. In short, she was just like Fin. A cherry on top of it all, she was also half Asian - also like Fin. They called each other “best friends,” and were inseparable. Other parents joked they were the popular mean girls of preschool, except not mean, just singular in their focus on each other to the exclusion of peers.

But time leaves nothing untouched.

This August they were separated by the start of their public school education and universal TK.

This weekend the were reunited by a siblings birthday. And the in-sync-ness they used to enjoy was off. For the 1st half of the party one followed the other around, but she was caught up in lunch logistics, choosing and eating treats.

The second half of the party, the situation had been reversed, but rather than food, being the separator, it was other kids. Fin trailed her friend around (unsuccessfully) trying to get her attention for the remaining hour before giving up, and resigning herself to coloring pictures of mermaids. “Do you want to play?” “No I'm playing with my cousins.”

HEARTBREAK.

She's since recovered and has started asking us how to make new friends. 4 year olds live life a week at a time.