Mar
6
The Power Of A Posse
by Leslie
Our playgroup started in 2007. Five moms, five three-year olds and Baby Ella.
Three years later, we’re still a group. Five moms, five five-turning-six-year olds, four one-turning-two year olds and Baby Ella. (Okay, so Ella’s not so much a baby anymore, but the name stuck. Sorry, kiddo. You’re forever Baby Ella in my heart.) But now, with school, work and other obligations pulling us in different directions, our get-togethers are a bit more random.
Yesterday everything lined up, like an eclipse, and a few of us managed to hook up at the mall play area, after preschool, before big kid school pick up and on our way to run errands. The kids fell right into their groove, like musicians coming together to play a symphony. They each knew their part and played beautifully together. All was sweet as a song, until…
Baby Ella came to report that someone wasn’t being nice to Lucy. We immediately got on our feet and went to see what was going on. A boy- the biggest boy in the play area – had Lucy cornered in a tunnel. His hands were around her neck and he was shaking her. She was visibly upset and truly quite frightened. One of the other mothers in our group reached her before I did and pulled her out of there.
Once Lucy settled down, the kids went back to playing and we increased our watchfulness, particularly over the boy as his parents didn’t seem to be around. He lingered near our kids. Then, he grabbed for Lucy and said, “Come here! Come on! Come with me.” And before I could even approach him, the rest of the playgroup kids, without saying a word to each other, circled around Lucy. The older girls placed themselves directly between the boy – who was bigger than every one of them – and my little girl and told him, “You’re making her scared. She can’t come with you. Please leave our friend alone.”
For the rest of the afternoon, Lucy played with her friends around her, watching her and protecting her. And I felt so grateful for my girl to know what it’s like to be loved and valued, to feel small and picked on, but to have friends surround her, protect her, lift her up and soften the blows the world is hitting her with, because that’s how my playgroup friends make me feel. Because we all need a posse. I’m so thankful for mine.
Jan
31
to The McKinley Museum
for learning and fun
Jan
16
The Original Playgroup
by Leslie
I was a blank slate and they
were the first to write
Jan
8
for another wild ride down
glorious snow day
Jan
22
We had playgroup at my house today. And since I like to celebrate things, and Chinese New Year is just around the corner (February 7th for those of you not in the know), we did it up Chinese New Year style. That means, I made a snack with a theme.
It’s a rat pudding cup. Because 2008 is the Year of the Rat, which is pretty much the only reason you might serve children food bearing a resemblance to a rodent.
Then, I showed the kids Chinese numbers from one to ten alongside our numbers, so they could see how cool and different they were. I had found a website with audio pronunciations and I learned them ahead of time so I could count to ten in Chinese correctly for them. And I showed them the Chinese symbols for the days of the week. I had learned how to say those in advance, too. Dave made fun of me for it and called me a dork. So, I said, “Xing qui tian,” which means “Sunday,” but Dave didn’t know that. I could have been telling him to blow it out his ass for all he knew. If you can’t beat him, confuse him, that’s what I like to say.
I also prepared a craft – rat puppets, made from construction paper and small paper bags – but we didn’t assemble them at playgroup. Because of all the playing, which is really the top priority of the playgroup. So, everyone took one home as a remembrance of this fine day where I showed off the cool and colorful calendar I got free from the China Star restaurant last week.
Stuff I Do
-
Stuff You Should Do
You know, Stuff.
