Henry had a date for Valentine’s Day. He’s only 7.

Way back when, a long time ago, Henry started at a Montessori school where we lived in Macon. They had the most adorable class of 2 year olds ever. They became a very close-knit group. They all moved up together to Primary and stayed together for the next two years.

In that group, was a precious little girl, I’ll call her D. Around the time they were 4, I started hearing about D being Henry’s girlfriend. So did D’s mom. That’s cute enough, right?

Usually you hear about a girlfriend and then the next week it’s another one. Not the case here. Here we are 3 years later. We moved from Fort Valley to Atlanta. D’s mom and sisters moved from Macon to way north Atlanta. They see each other occasionally, including running into them at the Pumpkin Patch an hour from both of our homes.

Anyway, about a month ago, we were in Publix and the Valentine’s candy was out already. He told me, “Mom, I need to go ahead and get this box of candy for D so they don’t sell out.” We bought the candy and put it in the cabinet. When we were unloading the groceries, he asked me if he could take D out for dinner on Valentine’s. I said “sure,” and didn’t think anything else about it.

A week before Valentine’s day, he asked me again. I told him I would see and immediately emailed D’s mom to ask if we could come up and take her out for a quick dinner — you know, at Chick Fil A or something. She said yes, and Henry called to ask her.

IT. WAS. THE. MOST. ADORABLE. THING. EVER. (up until that point)

She squealed like a new sorority girl on Bid Day.

There was chatter between the mom and I. About what, when, where, and of course the cuteness of it all. I mean, they’re 7. It’s still cute.

Fast forward to Valentine’s Day. School, school party (where all the kids and the teacher were asking me about Henry’s date), snack, shower… time to get ready.

This. This is the face of nervousness. He had just told me his tummy was nervous.

Top hat, courtesy of his magic set. Candy. Roses — one for each of the 3 girls.

Jason got home and we hit the road.

We got there and he rang the bell and we were invited in. It felt a bit like prom.

She was so prim and proper and beautiful in her red velvet dress, fancy coat, A DAB OF PERFUME OMG I DIE! Her hair was fixed and her shoes were sparkly.

And he was smitten.

He opened the door for her to the car and we were off.

To Zaxby’s.

The conversation in the car was amazing. Jokes, chatter about school, questions about friends. Then she says, “Henry, you look nice.” To which he responds, “Thanks, you look pretty.”

Have you turned into a puddle of goo yet? I have.

So we get to Zaxby’s for our fine dining on fried chicken fingers and fries. He orders, she orders, he pays and goes off to get their drinks.

Jason and I went to order — yes, I treated him to fried goodness for Valentine’s Day, too — and the guy asked if they had been to a recital. I said, “No, they’re on a date.” And I thought he was going to break his face smiling so big. He thought it was so cute. He even carried their order out to them at their table.

They sat at a 2 person table and chatted. More jokes, more talk about friends and school.

We all finished and they wanted to go for dessert so we headed back to D’s neighborhood and hit the frozen yogurt joint. They ordered and went to sit by themselves again.

It was already after bedtime for both of them so we headed back to D’s house for the drop off. They’re already planning another time to get together and play. But I think maybe we’re done with dates until they’re at least 30.

On the way home, Henry said it was definitely all he hoped it would be. And then promptly passed out.

Being a gentleman is hard work, y’all. (please notice the tie is undone. he’ll make a fabulous fraternity boy one day.)

All in all, I think it was a wonderful night.

I was most impressed with how much of a gentleman Henry was and how much of a lady D was. Yes, they are only 7. But they showed more respect for each other and pride in their manners than most adults show.

I like to think he’s learning to be a gentleman at home. I also like to think that teaching him to respect girls (and others in general) at an early age will serve him well in life.