Activate

I’ve complained ad nausea about how children today are so activity bound, they live in the cars strapped down, and there isn’t enough time being home and bored. No one seems to appreciate the power of boredom—that blank space where the imagination begins to flourish. I guess I don’t believe it either because I’m looking for a 3 year old soccer program for the summer. Right now he’s learning to ice skate, dance, and he’s attending the Waldorf Nursery Program. And that doesn’t cover the myriad of other activities, church stuff and family events. I rationalize this by saying that Sam is THAT kid and he is. He thrives on social events and physical activity. If he was more like me, we’d hang out at home and watch the paint dry into landscapes of faraway kingdoms. He is already so social that he first few weeks at Waldorf, I wasn’t sure who was getting socialized—me or him.

Here is a group of moms and oftentimes one father who pass in the parking lot and what a cross section of parenthood: the stay-at-home moms who’ve just let their only and first-borns alone at school for the first time, hovering in the parking lot, wondering if the best thing would be to break their kid out of there; the mother of five and the father of 2 who give us a nod of “been there done that” before they dash off to get in a work out or enjoy a quiet moment at home; and the working moms trying to make all good things happen in a day. No matter how different our circumstances, it’s so refreshing for me to see other parents navigating this time of life when parent and child are braving new worlds separately.