Playground Politics

My friend D and I are always talking about how each day presents many opportunities for learning for our children. It would be so easy to just sit back and let your children fight and be badly behaved. Luckily, most of us parents are concerned about raising our kids to be kind and respectful human beings that other people genuinely want to be around. Having a sibling makes these opportunities for learning happen right at home, no other socializing required. You need to learn to share, take turns, talk nicely to each other. But the playground is always a place to put your lessons learned into practice. Today was one of those playground learning days.

After a busy morning - Schmoo at school, me and Bean at the gym and then running errands - we picked up our friends C & H. Their preschool / daycare was closed at 1pm today, so I had offered to take them for the afternoon so D could finish work. We came back to our house and after several failed attempts to get everyone to play cohesively at home, I decided to pack them up and take them to the school playground at the top of our hill.

A neutral environment always tends to encourage cooperative play. While we were there, another little girl befriended Schmoo and soon she, Schmoo and C were running around together. As with most groups of three, there soon was a conflict as to one person feeling left out. The girls kept running away from C, thinking it was a game and he wasn't happy with it. After a few different interventions (this is where the teaching / learning opportunity occurred) all five of the kids were running around playing together. How exhausting, but at least we came away from the playground without and tears or meltdowns.

We returned to the house in time to sneak in a show or two before D returned from work and we all sat down for a pizza dinner. Both dads were away so it was a perfect opportunity for a pizza supper. The kids ate ravenously after their afternoon in the fresh air and by 6pm, Bean was beginning to meltdown. D packed up her kids and I had mine bathed and tucked into bed by 6:45pm. What a day! Now it's time to clean up the kitchen and catch up on Grey's Anatomy that I missed last night when my friend A and her baby L came over for a visit.

It was nice to catch a few minutes on the phone with Papa today. We are counting down the sleeps (3) and hope that everything goes well tomorrow. Big hugs and kisses to Papa, Nana and Grandad!