The Park

Yesterday I took 4 little boys to the park, all 5 years old and younger. I've never taken little boys to the park before without girls along as a buffer, so I have never really noticed how differently boys and girls play, until yesterday. Taking little girls to the park usually involves some swinging, quite a bit of monkey bars, and a lot of pretend. There is always some sort of store where other kids can buy ice cream made of rocks with their rock money. Altogether it's a very relaxing experience for the supervising adult, as their main involvement is to provide more rock money and perhaps an idea for the next game.

The park with 4 little boys is a little more...for lack of a better word and to quote my 8-year-old..."boyish." A lot more jumping off things, loud yelling, crashing into each other, running away, jumping off higher things, louder yelling...you get the idea. I guess having only one little boy at home has made me a little out of touch with how boys are when they are in a group. And Tony P. was right in there - he was in heaven. He was following his little buddy around the park, copying everything he did, and having the time of his life. It made me so grateful that I could have that moment of realization, because it affirmed to me two things. First, Tony P. needs to play with boys more often so he can be like all the other kids. And second, parks are a very good place for play dates, because then all that running and jumping can happen somewhere other than my house.