by Kate

She’ll be two at the end of the month. It happened at the major shopping centre nearby, on the Batman merry-go-round near the food court.

My daughter is a gearhead at the moment – if it goes vroom! she’s obsessed with it. The Batman merry-go-round is a must-go destination, and the highlight of any shopping trip. It has three Batman vehicles: the Batcycle, the Batboat, and, of course, the Batmobile. No dummy, my daughter is all about the Batmobile.

When we arrived, however, there was another child already there. He was beautiful: coffee skin, midnight eyes, eyelashes to die for, maybe 3 years old. And he was in the Batmobile.

We’ve been working hard on the concept of sharing in my house, so this was a perfect time to put it into play. We explained that the other child had been there first, and that she must wait her turn. She reluctantly attempted the Batcycle, but her heart wasn’t really in it. She knew her wheels, and she wasn’t going to settle for second best. So she stood beside the car and waited.

Eventually our hero got the hint and got out, gesturing her in. My daughter didn’t think twice, and was in the car faster than the Joker could crack a quip. Then, very slowly, very softly, the little boy leaned over and kissed her full on the mouth. It lasted half a second, and neither seemed overly affected. She turned away and proceeded to steer the hell out of the car, and he went back to his parents who were clearly freaking out that we would start freaking out.

We didn’t. In all honesty, I got a little misty. There was something so beautiful in the innocence of the gesture, a purity that our culture with all its in-your-face sexuality has lost. The magic of first kisses is an over-played tune in teen rom-coms, and in romance novels, they’re often just a prelude for the big event, a spark to ignite a flame of lust. Rarely do characters kiss each other for the full joy of connecting to someone else, without expectations or distractions – internal or external. We’ve lost the magic of affection under the weight of desire.

So I’m really pleased that my daughter had this moment, even if she’ll only ever know it through my memories. There’ll be nothing like it again in her life.

After all, what more can a woman ask for than a man who would give up the Batmobile for her – and steal a gentle kiss?