Posts Tagged ‘play time’

Neighborhood Play

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
As you know, we move around a lot being in the military. So when we moved last year we looked for a street with less traffic so our kids could play safely outside. We live in a small cul-de-sac with fewer than ten homes on it. We have good friends who live down the street and they come over a lot, but their only child is an infant. Our boys love to play with other kids and up until now they have always played with our friend’s kids at social gatherings or organized play dates.

Jack’s classmate, Zoey, and her older brother live next door, but we do not know their family very well. Jack and Tate saw them riding bikes and scooters and begged to go play with them. I sent the boys out on their bikes and introduced myself to Zoey’s mother.  She was very polite.  Unlike Zoey’s mother, I am not comfortable with Jack or Tate roaming the neighborhood without watching, so I stayed out front and did some yard work while they played. All the children played well and they made the most of a gorgeous spring day. The kids ended up playing in our back yard later that afternoon.  Luckily, Zoey and her brother are very nice and well-mannered, which makes it easier for me to send the boys out to play.  Since I don’t know Zoey or her mother very well, I’m a little apprehensive about sending Jack over to her house to play.  This is another learning experience for both Jack and me.

When I grew up, I was outside all day-every day with my neighbors.  In fact, most of my childhood memories involve our swing set, playing games in a neighbor’s yard, sleep-overs, and riding my bike around the block.  I want my kids to have the same memories and ability to go out and climb a tree with their neighbor friends.  However,  it makes me a little nervous letting Jack roam around someone’s house of whom I don’t know very well.  I hope to get to know Zoey’s mother better over the next few weeks and for her to do the same.

Also, as summer approaches I’m sure we’ll have many knocks at our door asking if the boys can play.  I have no problem with this because I want my kids enjoying the outdoors with their friends, but at some point we need to have just family time.  It’s hard to explain that to my children because in their minds playing at their house with friends is so convenient and fun at all times of the day.  Allowing certain times of the day to play with friends will hopefully provide a balance of friend and family time.  I’m curious:  What do you do at your house?  Do you set limits?  Or is summer an endless free-for-all?

 

 

 

Magic Words

Friday, May 11th, 2012

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
I was in court yesterday doing a marathon morning of mediation sessions. During a break, I was speaking to one of the housing counselors. He’s a good guy, one of the best that we deal with, and he was telling me about how he had gone out of his way to help a client. He really had gone above and beyond, but the woman decided to make him the object of her frustration and used some “magic words” on him. And, while he’ll help anyone, once you say those “magic words” to him, he’s done trying to help you… It cracked me up and shows that we all have our limits, even people who are known for helping everyone.

This post, of course, is about a different variety of magic words.

We try to get Andrew to always say “please” and “thank you.” He’ll ask for stuff and we say no until he remembers that magic please. If he really wants something, he knows that I absolutely cannot resist when he breaks out the “Oh please! P-p-p-p-lease!” But still, he knows how to ask correctly.

Today I walked in to daycare to pick him and all the kids were sitting at a long table coloring. One of the little girls, Maya, looked up and got all excited to see me. “ANDREW’S MOM! Can you draw me hearts?”

I gave her the look. The one I give Andrew when he doesn’t say please and I’m waiting for him to ask me correctly. SHE gave me the look back. The “WELL? AREN’T YOU GOING TO DO THIS FOR ME????” look.

If she were my kid, I would have stood there, hands on my hips, waiting for her to ask me right. But she wasn’t my child… And I caved. I had to draw SEVEN hearts for her. First pink. Then red. Then blue. Then purple…

Then another little girl came over, flung her paper in my face and asked me to draw HER hearts. And a third girl came over. “NO! Draw ME hearts!” Then a fourth. “Is it MY TURN yet?” Maya wanted more hearts for herself.

Finally, Andrew looked up from the pig he was intently coloring, walked to my side and threw his hands up. “EVERYONE! SLOW DOWN! WAIT A MINUTE! Mommy can’t draw hearts for everyone at the same time!”

So they formed a line with their paper and crayons, each little girl asking me to draw different colored hearts for them to color in. And not one of them used the words please or thank you. (Yes, I’m a sucker)

I don’t mind playing with the other kids when I pick up Andrew. I let them tackle me if I’m in the mood. I spin them around. We color together. But still… If you want me to spend 10 minutes sitting there drawing things for you to color in, can’t I get a please or thank you?

PLEASE?

Anyway, happy mother’s day to all you moms out there. And have a great weekend!

One Track Mind…

Friday, March 18th, 2011

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
When I picked Andrew up from school today, there were three little boys running around outside. I knew with absolute certainty that if they were still out there when I got outside with Andrew, he would join in the chase immediately. And he did.

The only way I could get Andrew into the car was to propose a race between him and his friend, Brady. Whoever got to their car and got strapped into their car seat first was the winner. They both tore off toward the cars eager to be the big winner.

As soon as we got into the car, “MOMMY! I WANT TO PLAY OUTSIDE!”

I was able to stall him for about 3 seconds by telling him that we were driving down the middle of a highway and we were not going to play in traffic.

That worked until, “MOMMY! I WANT TO PLAY OUTSIDE WHEN WE GET HOME!”

Again, I stalled him for about 10 seconds this time. I, of course, could not play outside in heels and a suit so I had to change. Andrew nodded like he understood before announcing at the top of his lungs. “CAN WE PLAY NOW?” (Of course, we’re still in the car)

He didn’t want to hear that he had to eat dinner first. Or that the grass might still be too wet from endless days of rain. Or any other excuse I could think of.

Because after about 5-10 seconds, it was back to “LET’S PLAY OUTSIDE!”

I tried to redirect him but that kid has a total one track mind.

It’s not that I didn’t want to let the kid run around outside or that I didn’t want to play with him. I just happen to have about 4 hours worth of work that I needed to get done tonight… (None of which has been accomplished as of the time I wrote this post).

The stubborn lawyer part of me wanted to dig my heels in after the 20th time he asked me the same question in 10 minutes. Of course, how can I refuse my little guy when he looks up at me with his big eyes and says, “Mommy? Can we please go outside and have a catch?”

Have a great weekend everyone.