On the fly parenting....

I have been home sick for the last several days. My parenting isn't at it's best during these times, but never the less, it's not the kind of job you get to have sick days.
Lately, Miss Ella has been quite obsessed with the idea of whom she is will marry. There are quite a few names in the running, and the more I heard about it the more uncomfortable it makes me. She is nearly four. Even if she was nearly fourteen, I don't think it would set real well.
So, tonight enough was enough. I blurted out our rules for dating without really thinking, which is mostly what I do, and only sometimes do these plans have a perfect outcome. After I explained that she is much too young, she started to cry. I tried to explain that she will always have friends that are boys, and I wasn't trying to be mean, and then I brought in Mr. Workin' for reinforcement. It was probably the best part of the plan. I feel like if your daddy is there telling you, you are smart and pretty and awesome, you are less lately to run out and seek validation from a boy.
I also feel like dating and being good at dating is important. I used the age 16. But with phones and fb and who knows what other technology there will be in 12 years, I just am not sure that was a good number.
We ended the talk with daddy will be your boyfriend until you are old enough to think about choosing someone different. And until then, Eric, Ty, Tracyen, Garret, Oliver, and Gus will just have to be your friends that are boys.