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Last year, one of Téo's aunts asked him who he was going to marry.
He looked at her incredulously. Mummy, of course.
When I heard this story, half of me smiled.
But the other half bristled. Why was this a question for a 4-year-old? Why do we start so young in setting up ideas of how life should unfold? What if he's gay? What if he doesn't want to get married? He doesn't even know what marriage is! Why can't we just let kids be kids?
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Fast forward a couple of months to when school started, and all Téo could talk about was who was in love with who in his class. Worse, every now and again he'd worriedly say But mummy, I don't know who I'm going to marry with.
I bristled again. Who he might one day marry just shouldn't be a concern. Why can't these kids just be kids?
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Yes, I have a bit of an anti-marriage streak. Yes, I realise this is somewhat ironic.
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This weekend we went walking with donkeys with our neighbours and some of their friends. One couple had a girl the same age as Téo.
She was too scared to ride a donkey. I don't know if it was because of her, but Téo elected to walk a good part of the way.
They ran around together.
They held hands.
On the way back, she led his donkey.
I don't know if it was because of him, but eventually she decided to try riding one herself.
He cheered her on.
At the end of the day, phone numbers were exchanged.
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We're going to get married with each other.
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I didn't bristle at all. Instead, I just thought it was nice to see Téo make a new friend.
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- But where will we live? Because I want to live in Australia one day.
- No, I want to stay in Europe. Everywhere else is too hot.
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And very sweet, these kids being kids.
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