This was a really strange summer and also probably the first "new" kind of summer we will have, although I hope each one gets better as this one was not great. The "strange" part was mostly the weather (although with climate change this could also be a new normal). It rained almost all summer, especially through May and June. So we didn't get out much. The newest was that the big kids came on almost no outings with us. They have been trailing off a bit each year but this year they were almost completely out. This was hard for us (me and the babies) because we didn't really totally adjust. I had a hard time getting out and going on outings because I was waiting for the big kids for something or taking them places or helping them with their projects. Then once we did go Dane and Eve did not want to play by themselves, which was weird because they play by them selves all the time during school months. But almost every outing we went on (Pool, Belleview park, beach, library, parks, etc) they would just sit on my lap and whine. They didn't know what to do. It was so frustrating. I left almost every outing so upset we even went. What made things worse this was definitely the first summer that we didn't even do any summer group outings with other families and kids. All my friends' kids are now also too old for them. So this was kind of a depressing, lonely summer for me.
However, I did call in a favor. I thought that if I could get some peers (or a few years older) to come "show Dane and Eve" HOW to play they would catch the vision and be able to do it by themselves. So I got some of my friends to bring their kids. It didn't really work. Their older kids were not interested in playing "that way" anymore, so they went off and did "big kid" things and Dane and Eve stayed on my lap and whined. Towards the end I bribed the big kids to go build with the sand for a bit. They did and then Dane and Eve totally loved it and got really engaged. But if the big kids stopped, they would stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment