His name is......

It's been a while since my last post! It was just date 1 with "the guy with the hunch" when I last wrote and since then there have been many more! We have spent as much time together as my schedule allows and things have been great! He has become very special to me and we have decided to date exclusively (decided that after date 1 actually) and see where it goes. I am crazy about this guy! So much so that he has met my children already!! It started with a list. A list that my kids made for him to check off. It was called "Mom's Boyfriend" and it had 2 columns. 1 column listed the things mom's boyfriend had to be and the other listed the things he couldn't be. It was a great list and had some pretty important criteria mixed with some absolutely ridiculous things! He filled it out on our last date and I returned it to the kids. He had 2 strikes against him according to the girl. 1 was that he is a Met's fan and the other is that he didn't know too much about Twilight. Not too bad in my opinion!! So the meeting..... It was an easier decision than I had thought it would be and since it was his idea it made it that much easier! I always said that the first man that meets my children will be someone significant in my life and someone who I could see myself with long term. So they met. My son took to him almost immediately. It was awesome to see them interact and at 1 point I was standing in the doorway of the tv room peering in at the 2 of them sitting side by side on the couch playing Star Wars Lego on Wii and my son had the most sincere smile on his face. I quietly whipped out my cell phone and snapped a picture. I loved that moment and I wanted to remember how my 2 favorite guys looked enjoying each other's company. My daughter was at her dance/theater class at the time so the guys had a while to hang and get to know each other before we went to pick her up. She knew he was coming. She agreed to it. Actually she insisted on meeting him before anyone else did and I respected her desire. Off we go to pick her up and the guys stay in the car. I go in and give her a quick pep talk and remind her to be respectful. They have a brief meeting at the car and she picks a place to go eat. We make our way to the State Line Diner and grab a booth. Guys on one side, girls on the other. The conversation is cute and seems to be going well. She isn't being bratty! She isn't being obnoxious! She is being funny and teasing him a little. This is a good sign!!! He treats us to dinner and we go back to my house. We all hang out in the backyard for an hour or so and play on the swing set. The kids are begging him to be their "victim" on the 2 person swing but I warn him against it!! They are calling his name and laughing and teasing. This is going better than I could have expected!! They have NEVER met anyone that I have dated in the 2 plus years since I left my husband. This is exactly how I have imagined it being and I am feeling a little choked up. My girl asks him if he'll shoot some hoops with her and he says he'd love to. They all go to the driveway and play some basket ball. I am really enjoying the interaction with them and so happy I agreed to this meeting so soon! Basketball over we all go inside and sit on the couch. We both know it is time for him to go even though neither 1 of us want this day to end just yet!! The kids are starting to be silly and plotting something..... I know this means that they will eventually wind up in trouble if I don't defuse the situation soon! He says goodbye to them and heads home. The door isn't closed for a minute when my daughter announces to me "I don't like him, lose him!". WHA WHA WHAT??? Things were going so well and I thought she was enjoying his company as much as her brother! We sit and chat. She can not give me 1 reason why she doesn't like him, she just doesn't. My boy is there too, defending him! He tells her that "he smells great! Like he just stepped out of the laundry"! I love his commentary but I send him off to play so I can talk to the girl. I go back in my head to being 11. I go back to a time and place where I was that little girl and it was my mom bringing home a boyfriend. I remember exactly how I felt at that moment and I have nothing but understanding and compassion for my confused little girl. I suggest a bath for her and we go up to run it. She bathes, I sit on the floor and we talk some more. I tell her I know how she is feeling and that even though she says she doesn't like him I think it's really the situation that she isn't pleased with. She isn't yet ready to talk rationally so I end it. He calls me when he gets home to ask how I think it went. I tell him the boy thought he was great but that the girl might need a little more time. He is sad. He thought it went really well and he is surprised to hear that she had anything negative to say at all. I explain to him the mechanics of a pre-pubescent girl who has been through so much in her short life. He understands, I think, but does say that he feels as though he has been rejected and he is really feeling sad. I don't want him to be sad but at the same time I am glad he is bothered at all! It shows me that he really does care. If he would have shrugged it off I would have had to wonder about him! He asks me if her not liking him is going to change my feelings or if things are going to be different now. I assure him that although I value her opinion, I know she is only 11 and she has no decision making power! We talk for a few minutes and then hang up. I can hear it in his voice - the worry. He has no children. He is an only child and has no nieces and nephews. This is new territory to him just as it is to me and the kids. We talked about this before the meeting took place and we all knew it was a first across the board. I know that she will eventually come around or she will just be miserable when he is around. Either way, he IS going to be around and she is going to have to find some way to adjust. I tell him that I'm letting her sleep on it and we will talk about it some more the next day. My mom is the 1 that gets them off the bus the next day and she has already been filled in! Turns out I was right. It wasn't the guy she didn't like. She told my mom that she wouldn't like anyone I brought home. When I get home we talk about him a little. She doesn't say anything bad. She is curious about him and asks me some questions. Later on we go to the mall to get her some new sneakers. Shopping is always a great time to talk since she is really in her element at the mall!! She thinks she will give him a second chance. We will invite him for dinner and he has to watch Twilight with her. If he likes it, he must be cool. I call and invite him and tell him it is entirely his decision. He agrees without the slightest hesitation. He will come and eat with me and the girl (the boy will be out with his uncle for a Lego workshop) and then we will watch Twilight. He is happy that she is open to him coming back and I imagine he is a little nervous now knowing she is testing him!! Tonight is the night. I will make dinner and we will watch the movie. I have no doubt they will find some mutual ground and eventually she will be more open to him being a part of our lives. It will take some time and it will be a learning experience for all of us but him and I agree that it is worth it. We want to be together and give this a real shot. I am a package deal and he has been aware of that since day 1. He hasn't run for the hills yet and I have a feeling that he has put his running shoes away...... And his name is Scott <3