organising events for the kids is part of my job description.
i am not into hyper organisation, in fact my kids spend a great deal of time on our playground, racing around on a concrete playground, exploring weeds and chasing each other and the offspring of other like minded parents. have i mentioned i love our building?
but once a week they go to western playground, for a change of location. many of the youngsters in our building go, (ranging from 10-20 kids) and they eat an early dinner there usually. the kids like it. it is a social event for them.
and so, when tara invited the trio up to hers for dinner tonight (tara being the mother of tallinn and zahlia, the former who incidentally looks quite a bit like the little kid from jerry mcguire, minus the glasses) i decided that we would stick wtih the pre-organised plan of going to the western playground. they like it, it’s part of their routine, blah blah blah.
and then, i was talking to the kids, (mistake, i should NOT do that), and i suddenly realised, "i should give them more choices", and so i asked, "would you rather go to western playground today or our playground and then to tallinn and zahlia’s house for dinner." and immediately the kids responded, "tallinn’s house!"
and so i changed the plans. that’s all there was to it. i don’t think they knew that i was changing their life so they could have their choice, but it was something that struck me…i should listen to their choices, and one day that will be important to them.
and, tonight, sela is sleeping in her knickers. she has had a dry nappy for six consecutive sleeps and feels she is up to sleeping in knickers like all the big girls do. i will report back soon…go sela go!
