Playground Friends

Since preschool is over and summer vacation has arrived, Joshua and I have been spending a lot of time at the park. I work all day and he has been very patient with me so as soon as work is over, we pack up our dinner, drinks and I grab a book and we go to Kelly Road Park.

I love that Joshua is now old enough to play without me and I can sit and read a little, with the most important thing being he can now (or will now) play without me. When we first started going, we would sit and look around for someone he could play with, we would both walk up and I would say "This is Joshua. What is your name? Would you like to play with Joshua?" and then they would run along together and play. Now, Joshua does it all by himself! For those of you that didn't know Joshua in his early days, this is a HUGE deal. And, since we have been going 2 or 3 times a week to the same park, we are now starting to see some of the same kids so it is even easier for Joshua to find a playmate.

So far, we have had really good luck at finding kids Joshua's age to play with. One day, there was nothing but older boys, the youngest of them being 9. They let Joshua play tag with them. The boys, and Joshua, would run around, they would let Joshua go a long time without being it, then one would tag him. He would then chase the boys around a while before one would slow down enought to let Joshua tag him. They were really good playing with him. And sometimes, Joshua gets stuck with some younger kids but he is very patient with them and plays on their level.

Yesterday Joshua was playing with two boys, not sure if they were twins or not but they were definitely brothers. They were a bit older than Joshua but didn't mind that he played with them. I noticed that each time one of the boys wanted a drink from the fountain, they would jump over the fence, get a drink and then jump back over the fence into the playground. So, it was no surprise to me when I saw the two boys AND Joshua go over the fence, get a drink, and then jump back over the fence...well, except for Joshua...It was easy for him to climb on a bench and then jump the fence, getting back over the fence was the hard part. I sat and watched, and smiled, and giggled as the two boys were grabbing Joshua's arms trying to pull him over. Then, one boy went back over the fence and tried pushing Joshua up while the other one pulled. When that didn't work, they decided to switch places and try the push and pull technique. When that didn't work, they moved down close to a tree, pulled a branch down so Joshua could hang on to it while one boy pushed and the other pulled. They finally got Joshua back over the fence. When they ran past me, I called Joshua over, told him not to climb over the fence any more without telling me first...I think he was surprised that I knew.

I love watching the kids play and the interactions among them. I love seeing Joshua play with the older kids and the older kids being nice to him. I love seeing Joshua play with the younger kids and playing on their level. I love seeing Joshua play with kids his own age. I love that we now see many of the same kids over and over.

Who knew these feelings of pride and joy could come from a playground...