One of Danielle's closest friends is Brian. So close that she signed the Ketubah at his wedding and he signed ours. Fast-forward to now and Brian has a two-year-old daughter Logan. It was Logan's birthday and hey, Sienna was invited to the party.
Naturally Danielle got sick this past weekend when Logan's party was planned. I've certainly become friends with Brian and his fantastic wife Stacie. I'm completely comfortable in a setting with strangers, having taken Sienna to the playground on solo action.
I won't lie about this. No parent REALLY wants to be the parent with screaming child who can't be consoled. At these type of events when Sienna heads toward meltdown Danielle holds her until she calms down. Usually there are lots of strangers in close proximity.
You know, like a birthday party.
A birthday party with lots and lots of screaming children where daycare has pointedly told Danielle and myself, "Sienna plays by herself and doesn't always interact with the other children." This is not a surprise given that Sienna's favorite expression is to stone-facedly check out what has happening around her, weigh her options, and generally do what she wants.
I had the option of staying home with Danielle. Surely parents would understand. Especially given that the party was scheduled for the middle of Sienna's nap and Sienna had already spent Sunday sleeping extra long for her first nap.
Maybe she just knew she needed the energy. I figured the entire event would be Sienna's continuation of being around strangers and also a little Daddy solo action. After all, the summer is almost here and outdoors soloing will be the norm pretty soon.
Sienna and I took the 40 minute subway ride - Sunday hours - into the city. At the front desk of the Appleseed Children's Center* the desk person responded to my inquiry about the party location with, "Oh, you won't be able to miss the party."
She was right.
There must have been 20-25 kids and 40 or so adults in the playspace. Luckily it was large enough to accompany everyone easily. As Logan is two years old Sienna was the defacto youngest person by...oh...9 months or so.
20 kids running around throwing balls at each other, running around with mini-golf-clubs and the parents half-a-step behind the little speedsters. I put Sienna down on one of the giant mats, whispering sweet tidings in her ear. She reached for a yellow ball, which I gave her, and she sat and watched the proceedings for 15 solid minutes.
Like I said, Sienna likes to check out the action.
I was okay with her night crawling all over the place - though she was eyeing a bunch of balls that were right in the middle of a basketball game. I'm not sure the kids would have stopped playing and I'm positive that the parents wouldn't be able to catch the kids in the time.
A while later we moved into another room where the two year olds colored around a giant table. Not issue for Sienna as she enjoyed the rug, drank some of her milk and then decided the most interesting item in the universe was the top of her milk bottle.
Some kids and parents would stop by and say hello at the lightning speed that children judge all objects: interesting or not. I was pleased when Sienna engaged in a minor game of catch with a two year old. A set of twin babies - age six months - also appeared thus negating Sienna's existing as the youngest.
Sienna even danced a bit, enjoyed nibbling on some pizza and did her annihilation of a piece of cake that resembles a snake unhinging its jaw to eat its prey**
Overall is was a great experience. Sienna didn't cry when I changed her before she left, she had some fun, and she loves being on the subway. Danielle woke up just before we arrived home and Sienna proceeded to tear around the apartment playing with her toys.
Solo parenting adventure = done.
Wayne
* That may not have been the name. I don't feel like looking it up.
** I am judging all parents on how they react to my snake/jaw comment. Horrified look = no fun. Laugh = fun.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment