Every parent believes they know exactly what their child is going through. But the truth is, everyone is different. No one is exactly the same.

I wanted to scream at her, even more so than at the boy. Why was that? Shouldn't I feel angry at the boy for taking advantage of my little girl? But perhaps it was because I could see the way she was looking at him. She liked him. She really liked him. Maybe that's why I retreated back inside. Maybe that's why I resigned myself to letting her think I never saw her in that tree.

I was still in my own head as I stood in the hallway between the kitchen and the living room, which is why I probably didn't notice my wife sitting there on the sofa, looking out the window, smiling.

"So why didn't you say anything?" She'd asked the question out of innocent curiosity, not as an accusation.

Still, I felt caught. "I, uh..." The best answer was always the honest one. "I don't know, I guess I thought it didn't feel right."

"Really?" she said, turning to face me now, her smile threatening to break into a laugh. "You catch a boy kissing daddy's little girl and your instinct isn't to break out the hockey stick?"

"First of all, threatening violence would have been overkill," I said, matching her sarcasm. "And secondly, I didn't see a boy taking advantage of a girl."

This amused her for some reason, as she shifted in her seat and looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. "What did you see?"

"I saw a girl experiencing magic for the first time all over again." I continued when her eyebrows lifted in amusement, albeit a tad bit suspicious now. "Like when she saw fireworks for the first time, you know." I pondered my words for a moment, considering whether this was, too, a bad euphemism. "This isn't coming out right."

"Actually, I think it is." She looked back out the window as did I, and watched our little girl. The kiss had long since passed, and now they were just talking, her smiling to hide her blush and swinging her legs happily. "Did you wonder why I didn't put a stop to it?"

I hadn't thought to ask. "Why?"

"Because I was once a girl just like her. The idea of kissing a boy, and I mean that very first kiss where it's about how nice it is to be seen. It was so special."

"Oh, so you mean I wasn't your first kiss?" I joked. We both laughed.

"Trust me, when I first kissed you, I was thinking something way different to what I was thinking back when I was her age. You see, back then, it was all so sweet and..."

"Innocent," I said, finishing her sentence. "I got you. And I guess that's why I didn't want to ruin the moment for her. I mean, the idea of a kiss being innocent and absent of all the things it's become."

"You mean, sexual."

"Lord, I can't even say that word talking about her."

"I know." Her face fell ever so slightly at the reality of what was to come. Just because we didn't want to speak of it didn't mean it didn't exist and wouldn't become relevant later.

I folded my arms, almost feeling the cold of the conversation cooling. "So what now?" She knew what I was asking.

"I'll have a talk to her about boys."

I nodded, but looking at her again, I smiled again, her innocence radiating right into the house. "But later. She doesn't need to learn that Santa Claus doesn't exist just yet. Let her think such innocent kisses are the pinnacle of love for just a little longer, okay?"

"I'll talk to her after dinner. And you," she said, pointing a wiggling finger playfully, "when are you going to talk to our son?"

"What, does he have a girl he's interested in too? He's twelve."

"Same question: when?"

"Well, the plan was when he got his first erection."

The word almost made her burst out laughing. Her open mouth and wide eyes almost made him laugh. "And how on earth are you going to know when that happens? What, you think he's going to tell you?"

"Fair point. You got any advice or are just going to sit there and laugh at me?"

"Well, my brother said our dad aimed to talk with him before he discovered adult movies. According to my brother, he was 18 months late." This finally made me laugh. She thought for a moment, searching her heart for a gut answer. "You want my advice?"

"Please."

She nodded at our daughter still sitting in the tree. "Talk to him about girls while it's still innocent. With any luck, he can have his first kiss while he still has his innocence."

"Good advice." Indeed it was, which made me once again ponder the wonders of parenting. The greatest job in the world that always felt like you were trying to solve a Rubik's Cube that was fighting back: always changing; always evolving.

So it was nice that kids, as much as they were so different from what we were when we were kids, could experience the same fundamental moments of youth in the same way. If only they could remain innocent forever.