My toddler is almost two years old and the kind of exposure he needs is more than just a television and flash cards at home. So we await the evening time, when all the other kids come to the park in our colony and enjoy a little park time. After taking a tour of the slides and the swings, my son usually takes to bouncing ball here and there. The boy who wants my attention for everything at home, is now on his own now. With the other kids as his playmate, he hardly glances at me at the park.
I realize how important is this time to bond with oneself too even though your child has become such an important part of your life. From children who push each other to the ones who cry for no reason at all, the park time gives them a valuable time to learn and interact with the other kids. My son is usually a menace at times, splashing mud on the older kids because he desperately needs to get their attention. Obviously the little ones aren’t a subject of interest to the boys at all. Girls, on the other hand are more on the kinder side. They have natural motherly instincts to nurture and care. So they run behind the little ones more, wanting their attention now.
I take to observing the other parents who are undergoing the same treatment as me. I see fathers who sit at the bench and let their children free, I see mothers who are on their smart phones and I see grandparents who just wouldn’t leave their grandkids side at all. Some parents just take to catching up with their lives by chatting up with strangers too. Its more of a time for themselves than for the kids sometimes.
When it comes time to go home, I see kids brawling their hearts out, not wanting to go home, some dragging their feet behind because life was going be again eating and sleeping now. Sometimes how I wished myself that life was all play and no work at all.