Early yesterday afternoon a friend called me and said that a group of people was going to meet at the park. I told her that we wouldn't be going because I thought it was going to be too wet. I knew that it had gotten quite warm outside but I honestly didn't realize just how nice it really was until we left the house to get Samuel. Of course I didn't tell the other boys about the invitation that I had declined because they would have been beyond disappointed!
After we picked Samuel up and were on the way home my car just decided that it was going to steer itself over towards the park! My oldest son had his nose in a book so he didn't notice the different route we were driving, but my youngest son picked right up on it and started saying "where are we going?" "let's go to the park!" Sometimes I do drive that route so we can see how high a particular creek is running, so I'm sure the boys wondered what I was up to. At the last second I said "okay, let's see who might be at the park" and I turned in. Our friends were there and my boys were very happy to know we would be staying a while.
A group of us has gathered together, as weather has permitted, at this park for 5 1/2 years now. We call it "play group", and it has been fun to have the kids get together. This is also vital gathering time for the moms too! Our families have grown considerably over the years and the ages of the children playing are from the early teen years down to newborns. Sometimes just one or two families are there and other times there can be as many as maybe 8 - 10 or even more families (usually in the summertime when we gather more regularly).
Our ability to go to play group has been limited the past year and a half because of Samuel's uncooperativeness. He started wandering off from the field where we gather. There is a creek nearby that Samuel is attracted to and I don't like to take any chances. We did not go very much last spring between that and our baby being so young. This summer and fall we had an in-home helper on the day we go to the park so we were able to attend regularly. I took a big chance by going to the park yesterday without an in-home helper. I put my oldest son on notice that I may need his help and I spent the entire time watching Samuel like a hawk. I also told them we would only stay for 45 minutes.
It didn't even hit me until we got back home, but Samuel did better than I could have even imagined! He did walk around the edges of the play area most of the time (he told me later that he was playing "Daytona 500") but he kind of hung out for a short while with the other children who were having races. Never once did he wander from the play area and best of all he did not expect to take a walk over to another area of the park as he usually does with our helper. I took a few minutes to help Samuel jump on something in the playground area, and I was able to help my youngest son on the swing for a few minutes too. It was great to talk with my friends for a few minutes too, the bad weather has kept us from getting together as regularly as we had been last fall and early winter.
We ended up staying for an hour and a half, the boys all accepted leaving nicely (I "counted down" before time to leave), and Samuel's good mood lasted most of the evening!
A great day all around for the boys!
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