Crushes? Really?

As I was getting him dressed after swimming yesterday, Jamie informed me that a little girl in his class has a crush on him. "Oh!" I said, surprised to hear this word, and asked how he knew. Seems another girl, best friend of this one, informed him. He then asked with a mixture of bravado and uncertainty, "Do you even know what that means?" I said yes, it meant that she really liked him a lot. "Yeah," he replied coolly, "And she wants to marry me." Well, well. She seems to come from a good family, though no dowry has been discussed, and her name isn't "Brytneee" or something (the Brittany variations are many here in Tejas), so we're in favor of it.

Things seem to be going a little less swimmingly for his best buddy. He informed us that W. is "looking for a girlfriend." It's not clear what qualities are particularly desired here, but Jamie also told me that the best friend of the girl who likes him does NOT want to marry W., so back to the drawing board I guess. In the same conversation Jamie started asking about whether one could marry someone in the same family, so I think he and W are still in competition for the hand of W.'s sister. What a tangled web.