Intervention by 5 year olds

This week, my five year old nieces came to visit, which explains the lapse in blog entries. They are twins and are easily the best children in the whole world. They play well together, travel well, and listen and follow directions. They're easy-going and up for any adventure. What more could an aunt ask for?

The visit began with a family gathering for my cousin's wedding. As a single woman who can see my 30s in the rearview mirror, I've been to my share of weddings by myself and they don't get easier. I always dread the inevitable question: "So, when are you going to get married?" I didn't expect the question to come from my 5 year old nieces.

As we relaxed in my hotel room before the ceremony, one niece remarked that I only had one bed in my room. I said, "Well, I'm only one person, so I only need one bed." The other responded, "But when you get married, there will be two people in the room." I said, "You know, I might not ever get married." Both looked completely befuddled, like I had just told them that Spongebob is actually not square. After years of Disney princesses who always get their princes, you could almost hear, "Does not compute, does not compute" as they tried to make sense of my response. Weakly, they said, "But everyone gets married."

I thought that would be the end of it. Nope. The next evening, my nieces staged an intervention over hot dogs, potato chips, and fruit - one of the few meals that meets with both of their approval. One niece informed me that I was "just a big kid," and asked, "Are you sure you're old enough to get married?" I replied, "Yes, I'm sure. In fact, I think I might be too old to get married."

The other said that I was just being silly, and both demanded to know why I'm not married. Ah, a question for the ages. I was forced to explain that people get married when they find the exact right person, and I hadn't found the exact right person yet. One niece advised, "Well...maybe if you put on a dress, then someone will think you are cute and will ask you to marry him. If he's not the right person, you can just say, 'no, thank you.'" I said that I would take her advice under consideration.

But they still weren't done. Over dinner last night, they made one last ditch effort to convince me to get married, and quickly became concerned about where this man would sleep. One niece pointed to my office where they'd been sleeping and said, "Well, that's our room, so I guess he'd have to sleep with you." I said that I didn't want to share my bed and she responded, "Well, we have bunk beds so we can sleep in the same room." The other niece chimed in, "Yeah, and sometimes, when I get scared, I sleep in her bunk." So, it's settled - if I ever get married, I'm getting bunk beds and the man can sleep in my bunk only when he gets scared.

I blame my cousin's wedding and Disney for all of this. Meanwhile, as I type this out, my downstairs neighbors are playing with fireworks in the parking lot. I'm hoping that they don't burn the building down or blow up my car. Hopefully, they won't set the sidewalk on fire - a story for another time.