one of my old friends, Rowan, is joining us again this year, a fresh kindergartener excited to be out of his pre-k group and in with the "big kids" playing on the big playground. one of my favorite moments last year was during some one-on-one time I had with Rowan. we were problem-solving what a person should do when they are sad. Rowan suggested going to your mom. he said that always worked for him. I asked him if it was possible to become happy if Mom wasn't around. his initial answer was an instant "no". but then he seemed to mull the question over, a smile growing over his face. "there is this one thing," he said, "sometimes, if I'm really sad, I sing a song I made up called Robots Dancing in Outer Space." he then proceeded to sing this song, which turned out to be a lot like beat-boxing, while dancing inside the safety of the cone-lined path through the school parking lot.
today, as Rowan sat at the bottom of the slide, I asked miss Kelsey to please not climb up the slide, as is one of the playground policies. Rowan immediately stepped in saying, "just let her be, she's having fun."
although I understand why my company puts certain policies on the playground, Rowan's comment still made me smile in agreement. I wanted to let Kelsey climb that slide, just as I think the kids should be able to run around barefoot and monkey-climb the trees. don't worry boss, safety is still my number one priority, and I enforce such rules because I know it insures the bare minimum of accidents. still, I can't wait to share the joy and the pain of the world with my own child, allow them to take risks, help them stand back up, brush the dirt from the knee-scrapes, clear the tears with kisses, applaud them when they try again.
this is a photograph I took of a Mama teaching her youngling the proper technique to cleaning feet at the NC zoo.
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