Since we were already in the Big City for tumbling, our friend Kate N. invited us over to play with her kids Irene and Ezra. For the most part, things went swimmingly. Suddenly, the kitchen became the beach (hence, the bathing suits) and the kids set up a makeshift campfire. There was ballet and cars and fort-building. All in all, loads of good fun. And Ellery slept through most of it. I even got to sit down and sip my coffee for a good part of it, which is, well, unheard of.
The exit, however, was a bit of a disaster. I won’t even bother to go into details because I’m too exhausted, but the short version is that the world dared not to go exactly as Neko decreed it. And to top it off, it was later than I’d planned to stay (forgot my watch), they were probably hungry, we’re all short on sleep, and school (and therefore our sense of routine and regularity) has been cancelled for almost half of February due to snow days and celebrations of dead presidents.
Anyway, I had to carry Neko out of the house kicking and screaming, having a full-on temper tantrum. Hopefully, Kate will vouch for me when her neighbors start asking nervous questions.
But I came out of today with reassurance of some things I know to be true of parenting:
1. Kids need to hang out with other kids their age. It spurs their creativity like nothing else and makes them smile and giggle.
2. Kids need routine. Without it, they are scattered and needy.
3. Parents need other parents, real conversations, and steamy cups of coffee. Few other things can soothe your soul so well.
(Thanks to Kate for taking photos, since I completely spaced on bringing my camera.)
