Jack and I had a big day today--I was the on-duty parent for Billygoats and Stacy furnished all the food. Greg, Jack, and I took the cooler to the park in Jack's green wagon. Jack rode in the wagon on the way to the park and later walked home next to it.
Jack had fun, but Billygoats is stressful for him. When he gets involved with something, he does not want to stop.
Today, he had a game he invented with a cardboard toilet paper roll; it was a "soccer ball thrower." At some point when Angelica wanted to move on to another activity, she took it away from Jack, triggering a lengthy crying jag. Finally Angelica gave Jack a "ticket" which he could give back to her after the hike to retrieve the soccer ball thrower. The ticket was a slip of paper
with a drawing of a happy Jack and a toilet paper roll.
Other stresses included Fiona running up and pushing Jack away from a climbing structure and then basically fighting with him. Also, he had to share Nana with the other kids when she read a book to them. And of course, Jack gets tired of snack and lunch times and wants to run off onto the field. Angelica is very understanding and she said Jack did great today.
Angelica is a genius in settling the problems little kids have. She has a system for every part of the day. I can see now how it will work with just one parent there. (Today was still a day when each kid had a parent present all day.) When the kids go to the bathroom, they all sit on the stairs near the bottom and the parent reads a book to them. Angelica takes one kid at a time into the bathroom.
Jack got to help me with the wagon when it was time to serve the snack. And he enjoyed running on the field, collecting leaves and sticks for a squirrel house, playing with water and sand. The kids and the parents loved Stacy's food. It almost all disappeared. The kids loved the eggs and turkey and muffins and the parents loved the muffins and the salad. At lunch, two of the mothers announced that they have just found out they are pregnant.
Jack is very concerned about the other kids. He called out to warn them about one of the wagons at the playground that he considers too tippy. After three and a half hours, all of us were beat. I pulled the wagon home with Jack walking beside me. He was very good about taking my hand when we crossed streets. The only hairy part was going down Elk, keeping the wagon from going too fast while holding Jack's hand.
When we got home, one of the neighborhood regulars insisted on taking the cooler up to the door for me while I put the wagon away and helped Jack up the steps. We took off our sandy shoes on the porch, got Jack some milk, read a book, and then Jack and I both took a nap on his cave bed. Jack slept for nearly three hours. When we went out on the front porch to put our shoes back on, we discussed the blue water tank on the distant hill. Jack wants Daddy to take him up to see it. Then we worked on the construction site in the living room until Jack wanted to play with Play Doh. Daddy found us in the kitchen smashing up the asphault (Play Doh) to recycle it. We'll need to make our own Play Doh as the commercial product is gradually sticking to our shoes, coating the kitchen floor as little orange crumbs, and otherwise magically disappearing.
Greg, Jack, and I went to the Chenery Park Cafe for dinner. Jack kept his hard hat on and sat in my lap most of the time while I had delicious salmon and Daddy had chicken. I'll sleep well tonight.
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