F and I went over to Brighton today to a friend's house, for T's birthday do. He will be 5 tomorrow, bless him. He's a bit of a love. E, his mum, is lovely too, F adores her and E is very nice to F. F was a bit whiney and not really wanting to be in company to be honest, but still, she did OK on the whole, just didn't really play with other children, kept popping back in to me for a whine and a cuddle.
She is really going through a phase of being not very bothered about socializing with other children. Her preferences at the moment are far more for just me and her being out and about somewhere different, or time playing XBox with J, or snuggling up to watch something with both of us, amongst a few other things. Fair enough, tis a phase like any other. However, I do consider it my responsibility to at least maintain a minimum level of group/social experience involving other children. I may be wrong, I don't know, but it's easier to keep it ticking over, rather than drop everyone we know and then have to start again at some point. I think, even if she only interacts minimally with the other children each time, there's something to be gained, and it's not like she really hates it, just that she's not very bothered. So we will see that group of people or some of them at least, probably every few weeks, with MMs every 3 weeks or so, I think.
It was nice for me, I felt very relaxed. Noone seemed to mind F being a bit non-social, too.
T seemed to enjoy his afternoon, and there were no major strops or arguments, it's a nice mix of kids. Oh, yes, F drew all over her face again with some kind of blue pen or paint!
We came back by bus and train, with F having a sandwich and banana on the train and a drink of water (I felt quite well-organized today - got us to the party only 20 mins late, and got to Little Ninjas in good time and having eaten properly, etc.), then walked to the leisure centre for Little Ninjas. Got F changed in the loo, and washed the blue off her face, using one of her socks as a flannel! She was a bit tired at LNs but did fine, got high-fived by K for sticking to the rules doing kangaroo jumps, which are really hard for her, but she didn't cheat, despite being about 3 times slower than the faster ones. She doesn't generally seem to mind being last, which she is often for some of the games/circuits. Her concentration was a bit off, due to tiredness and driftiness I think. K brought R and B - they will sometimes do Thursday and sometimes do Friday, so we will see them every 2 or 3 weeks which is good.
On the train she suddenly read out the scrolling LED text in the carriage: "The next station (she tried 'stop' is Lewes"; (This is coach) "2 of 4". Then, when we were coming back from LNs, she suddenly stood still in front of a road sign and said, in a tone of wonderment and epiphany: "Car park!". Awwww, my baby's reading. It must be so weird when all these ciphers that you have seen week in, week out, all your 6 years, are suddenly starting to jump out at you with meanings!
The walk back home from LNs was good, very windy but no rain (I have wellies again at last, and am fearless in puddles), F picked up various branches and dragged them for a while before putting them down and finding a new one each time. Arrived home via local shop (curry) and she is still eating late pizza dinner now.
4 comments:
L goes through definite phases of not really being bothered about other children. TBH, his favourite day would probably always be drawing, reading and watching TV at home with us. I suppose he does love museum visits too. But, like you, I do think we need to always keep options open for him with other kids. We just have to make sure he gets plenty of time to do solitary and family things too. F's reading is exciting, isn't it? And I think E has some sort of magic touch with people of all ages. She always makes me smile.
Yeah E has got that magic touch, for sure!
F's favourite day would be out, but out with me and J, I think. But she does love her home time too. And she goes through phases when she definitely does want to see other children, so yeah, it's a lot of keeping options open. Interesting how different we all are - I generally like time at home and prefer small groups or one-to-one company, too.
I go through long phases of wishing I didn't have to see anyone. It sounds terrible and to some people probably screams of depression but truely it isn't. I just like the peace and comfort of being at home or with family.
I like home days too. I think it can be a very positive thing to enjoy time at home like that, not much needing other people or places.
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