Firsts

Winter is coming. I’m scared. To death. During the nice weather I try to get the kids outside as often as possible. Michael can spend hours outside with no idea of what else is going on. In his world, there are plants to water, worms to save, frogs that need to swim, and dirt castles that must be the biggest and best.

But, today we tried open gym. I heard about it recently and ran past Mr. and Mrs. Banks. They were on board! Michael was bouncing off the walls all morning. He was so excited to go to the “inside playground with cool kids”. He ran inside the main facility, couldn’t get his shoes off fast enough, and impatiently waited on me and Jane before we could finally cross through those magical double doors. Michael and Jane both spanned the large gym with all the equipment any child could ever want………..and both grabbed on to me for dear life. Michael started crying saying how much he missed his parents. Tears were free flowing. He wanted to go home.

What would Mrs. Banks do? Would she go home and try another week? A child should not be forced to play….right? Tears are still flowing. I keep saying, “let’s just try a few things. You wanted to come.” All to no avail. Finally I told Michael that Jane and I were going to try the foam pit. If he wanted to come and see he could follow us. Next thing you know, he’s crawling around, bouncing, giggling, and thinks he owns the whole place! I’m guessing they’ll know us by name before the end of winter.

Signing out from 17 Cherry Tree Lane,
Mary Poppins