Today, Henry and I went to the playground - a newer one for us, a bit quieter and smaller than our usual hangouts. Lucy came too, but she isn't quite ready to "play." We started out doing bubbles, just the two of us, an activity that can make me anxious because I get nervous the whole playground will swarm us and I'll wind up in charge of navigating a whole bunch of kids trying to get at my kid's bubbles and madness will inevitably ensue (even though we always bring extra bubble makers). But, the kids on this playground were way too involved in a seemingly complicated game of tag involving children ages 2-8 who were quite impressively, if not a bit aggressively, playing with each other. One little girl came over to play with us - she was about 5 - and I had no trouble navigating the sharing that went on there. She was quite kind to Henry for the most part. I only once had to remind her that they were his bubbles so she might not want to grab the whole thing away from him like that. At one point she told me, "this is stressful," because she couldn't get a bubble to form in her bubble maker. I'm pretty sure I didn't know the word stressful at five. But that's a post for another day.
Anyways, part of my concern when other kids come to "share" Henry's stuff is that it will stress him out or he won't enjoy himself as much as he would on his own, that it will be scary to navigate the situation - projecting, anyone? When the sharing of the bubble tray was getting too much for him (I think) and his bubbles weren't working as well as hers (I mean, she's 5 after all), he decided to chase around after the bubbles she was making instead. Nice. After a while, the little girl got bored with the bubbles and ran off to rejoin the game on the playground. And, Henry went too.
My first inclination was to follow him, as we are usually pretty close by, if not directly underneath him, when he's climbing up things that are taller than he is. But I noticed none of the other caregivers were at the play structure, and there were kids seemingly his age running around unattended. It was a "little kid" play structure, and they all seemed to be playing well, big kids minding where the little kids were, etc. so I stayed back - a whole 15-20 feet. Lucy started crying so I picked her up out of the stroller and walked with her and kept an eye on Henry as he jumped and climbed and watched the kids play. He followed the little girl a bit - who was a big girl to him. He was sort of trying to insert himself in their play - the first time I think he's ever done that with big kids that he didn't know at all. At one point, as he jumped from thing to thing on the play structure, I asked him if he wanted me to help him (last time we were here, he had asked for my help) and he yelled back to me, "I no need help." The child development person in me was so proud of what she was seeing, while the mommy - or "momma" as he's retaken to calling me lately, was verklempt - and is a bit teary as she writes this, too.
We stayed for a while longer, he came to me to get a head rub briefly after the girl he was following kicked him in the head. I think it was an accident, but she didn't seem too concerned. (Side note: her caregiver mentioned something to the effect of "get in line" when I mentioned my son was following her...yikes.) He even asked me to ask her and his "friends" to play with him at one point toward the end. I know I have a new baby, but where has my baby gone?!!? He must have known I was getting misty though, because right before we left, he asked for my help to hop one more time from thing to thing. Thanks, H.
By the way, while I have your attention, tonight's episode of Friday Night Lights was called, "Stay," and it's all about letting go. Watch it - tonight, and every week. It's the best show ever.
Comments