Flirt

Some girls are born knowing how to flirt.

I've got two of them living right in my own house.

(I wasn't so fortunate. I had to acquire the rudiments of that skill. Slowly and with much embarrassment, I might add.)

But my twins have flirting down pat, at the ripe age of 9. Thanks to their older brother, there are boys-a-plenty around our house. And the girls never miss an opportunity to bat their eyelashes (the twin who is generally very shy but also well aware of her good looks prefers this approach) or engage in rapid-fire banter (the other twin who rarely backs down from a verbal fight, in fact, rather seems to enjoy starting one) with their brother's friends.

Recently, during a car ride that included all my kids plus a friend of my son's, the kids were bantering back and forth, girls vs boys, until my daughter abruptly switched gears with, "Johnny*, do you love me?" All sweet and sugary. She stopped him in his tracks! The boys were stunned silent, but my satisfied daughter sat smugly with a huge grin on her face: mission accomplished. Her twin looked over in silent admiration at this little feat.

Today, a group of boys, led by my son, were "spying" on my girls and their friend. Till the girls turned the tables on them. In the end, the girls were chasing the boys, laughing and egging them on.

Yes, my little blondies are naturals at flirting. They may use different techniques, but both are so very effective. And they know it.

Should be real fun when they're 15. I'd better get my sleep now, because I doubt I'll get any rest when they're old enough to date.

(* Names have been changed to protect the innocent!)