Glimpse

My two little valentines were drunk on sugar after a day full of classroom parties and love fests. I quickly assessed the situation (a classmate leaving Sweet Bub's room took one look at me and crowed "We've had SOOO MUCH CAAAANDY") and knew I needed to get my kids moving if we had any hope of forstalling a glycemic crash and burn.


After a quick visit to an exotic pet store (to visit a sloth, duh) we headed over to a local park. This park is one that we visited pretty much every day when Miss A was a toddler. True to form the playscape area remains a favorite with parents of younger kids and often there is a mob of little moppets settled in the pebbles, grabbing from a communal pot of buckets and shovels.


Yesterday was no exception; Miss A and Sweet Bubs were the biggest kids by far. I assumed they would play with each other and ignore the tiny minions--but instead each of my kids quickly paired up with a different toddler boy.


Sweet Bubs was approached by a very confident three year old who demanded "Whatchoo doin?" and quickly initiated a game of tag. Sweet Bubs let the little dude chase him hither and thon until they both collapsed in a pile beneath a slide. The little boy started gleefully pounding on Sweet Bub's back yelling "You're it! TAG!" while Sweet Bubs giggled and lamented "I'm not a drum! Oh jeez! He thinks I'm a drum."


The little boy's mother asked Sweet Bubs if her son was "tagging" too hard and he replied, "No--I'm pretty much ok with it." The boys continued to wrestle like puppies, with Sweet Bubs very clearly taking a subdued approach in the face of the littler child's enthusiasm.

Meanwhile across the yard Miss A had taken an 18 month old German boy under her wing. She patiently and gently tossed a tennis ball to him and tried to teach him how to reciprocate. They held hands and meandered about the equipment. Miss A pushed him slowly in the baby swing and laughed when he laughed.

I couldn't help but think maybe their play was a glimpse of what's to come? Eventually? With this guy?