Valentine's Day in Third Grade

So, who are you giving your real chocolate to?

Once again, Valentine's Day began with my mother's smirk.

For the boys in my extracurricular classes, I'll give store-bought mini gifts.

The homemade ones are for the girls.

And in a separate category,

there are two boys I've known since I was about two.

And then, there's one more person.

Every year, the chocolate doesn't turn out that great.

Even so, my daughter spreads out the recipe book she borrowed from the library,

and worries seriously about which one to make, saying this one won't do, or that one won't do.

Standing in the kitchen next to my eldest daughter,

it's a precious time when we can talk as equals.

Finally, the main topic.

When I asked about that last person,

my daughter looked away, a little embarrassed, and said,

He said he's never received any before, so...

Obligatory chocolate!!!

But as her mother, I can tell by looking at her face.

There is someone she really wants to give it to.

And it's probably not this boy getting the obligatory chocolate.

I suppose she doesn't want her mother to know.

Has she really reached that age already?

And with that, a different smile than before escaped me.

But given my daughter's personality, I don't think she'll actually give it to him.

Keeping it tucked away deep in her heart,

when she climbs one more step toward adulthood on her own,

she'll be able to give it naturally.

It might be a bit of an old-fashioned view, but as a mother born in the early Heisei era,
I feel like this is how girls grow up.

It's still too early to call it love.

Valentine's Day in third grade is,

half kindness and half secrets.

The steps to adulthood where one learns the joy of love seem to be placed a little further ahead.

Some feelings stay unnamed, and that’s okay.

Even if there are feelings that remain nameless, that is perfectly fine.