Crazy Stupid Love

Last night, my husband and I watched, "Crazy Stupid Love."

You know, the flick with Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Julianne Moore that despite the sort of predictable premise was hysterical and somewhat thought provoking.

It got me thinking both about my own dating experiences in my 20's and my kids.

I was pretty lucky.  I dated men who were good guys and for the most part, really good to me.  Doesn't mean that my heart didn't break, that I wasn't disillusioned from time to time, or that I didn't jump into the deep end a little too quickly.

That said, while I was sad to be one of the last of my girlfriends to be "the bride" and the "mommy,"  I'm grateful that I went to undergraduate school far enough away that I couldn't come home on the weekends.  That I studied abroad in a place where I could barely speak the language.  That I lived by myself in an apartment that was my responsibility.  That I waited tables at night while working a $20,000 secretarial job during the day realizing that majoring in Philosophy only gets you so far.  And that I went to graduate school and places around the country by myself before getting married and having kids in my 30's.

So, in a weird way.  I want the same for my kids.  Not necessarily for their hearts to break.  Although, I'm sure that's inevitable.  I want them to have lots of time and room for themselves....to test the waters, love big, experiment, go crazy, explore, fall down, get back up...before mortgage payments and middle-of-the-night feedings.

Who knows who they will fall in love with...I just hope that it's themselves first before they give over fully to another.