When you're four, making friends (even the boy kind) is easy

I know the kids that Lily plays with the most at school- two girls and a boy. She's played with the boy, C, since she started school, but they both used to get in trouble. A lot. So the teachers would try to separate them. Now I think they're doing a lot better, because I haven't heard any stories otherwise in months.

Then I started hearing about the girl, S, a lot. A lot a lot. Pretty much everyday. Aand they would jump up and down squealing at each other when I would drop Lily off at school. All very cute.

The third child is another girl that I've been hearing about more recently, but Lily never knew her name. I kept encouraging her to find out, but also said that I would ask her teacher if she felt too awkward asking her friend after all this time. Then one day, she just asked while I was standing there. The way the girl said it- her whole name, OA, was amusing to me. So now that's what Lily calls her, even though I've explained several times, I think the A is her last name.

I regularly ask about other kids in her class (sometimes making up names to check if she's listening). Did you play with Amelia? Did you play with Maya? How about J? "No," she told me last time I asked, "J, doesn't play with me."

Why not?
He doesn't like girls.
Oh, I'm sure that's not true.
It is.
His mommy is a girl, I'll bet he plays with her.
Ya, but not kid girls.

She had never really talked about him, but I remembered him from when she first started school. He chattered at me quite a bit one day, saying "look at me, look at me" every time he'd try to get the basketball through a low hoop. And then he'd turn to his teacher and do the same.

The day after we had the conversation about J, Lily happened to wear her sweatshirt that looks like an Iron Man suit to school. Aaand the very first person that saw us when we came in the door was J. "Iron Man!" he screamed at her. "I like Iron Man!" (And I smiled to myself.) Lily told him that she did too. "I have an Iron Man toy," he told Lily and a boy sitting at a table near them.

They start talking about Iron Man and heroes in general. I'm almost positive they were saying "heroes" and not "super heroes," but then the boy at the table interjects that "heroes aren't real."

I looked down at him and thought who the heck are this kid's parents? You're four years old- heroes are totally real. The three of them were practically yelling at each other over it, so after quickly telling Lily to "be nice," I took that as my cue to leave.

When I picked her up that afternoon, who was the very first one to scream goodbye at her? J. "So, Lily," I said to her outside. "I'm pretty sure J is gonna be your friend now."