In Our Own Backyard

After school most days, there's a large gathering of kids and parents who hang out at the climbing structure on the school playground. I've been encouraging Luke and Jaz to stay and play for a bit before we head home, partially to encourage them to make new friends, but also just to use up as much of their energy as possible (and so that I can catch my breath from my bike ride into town before loading up the bakfiets again). Zeb usually watches for a few minutes, and then joins his brothers climbing and sliding. On Tuesday last week, they were all 3 playing on the big twisty slide for a good amount of time, having so much fun all together. I love it when that happens. I was standing around with the other parents, trying to make new friends myself, and failing miserably. It's hard to believe that I'm one of "the parents" sometimes, and I just don't feel like I really fit in all too well (though I'm sure there are other parents at the school who feel exactly the way I do). I am certainly younger than most of the other moms, but I hate to think that that's the reason why I feel like I don't fit in. I think maybe it's that I have yet to really see myself as a grownup. All of these other moms and dads standing around making chit chat remind me more of my parents than of my peers. And it's hard for me to imagine them seeing me as one of their peers. But clearly my perception is at least somewhat misguided since the other moms and dads can't be much more than 10 years older than me, while my parents are now nearing 60. It makes me wonder if this is the way all grownups feel. Like we're not really old enough to be the grownups yet. Anyway, so the kids were all playing happily on the slide, and I was standing there with all the other adults, who were mostly talking amongst themselves. And it dawned on me that I could actually play with my children instead of just watching them. Don't get me wrong--I'm a huge fan of having kids who can play by themselves on a climbing structure (or at the beach, or in a field, or in their playroom), without me standing right there beside them--it's not that I question why I've been encouraging this kind of independence all along. It's just that I had forgotten that I like to play on climbing structures too. I mean, really, it wasn't that long ago that my friends and I used to seek out the coolest playgrounds in town . . . or was it?

So I joined the kids on the slide. And they looked at me wide-eyed and hugged me when I finally made it to the top (the game was to climb UP the slide and then all go down together in a big pile). I introduced them to the game of "lava," where you pretend that the ground is liquid hot magma, and no one can touch it without melting into oblivion. The challenge was to try and get to all the different areas of the climbing structure without touching the wood chips. Jaz cheered when I made it across the monkey bars and he said, "I love it when you're so crazy, mom," before throwing his arms around me and exclaiming, "we all love you, mom." Other kids who were playing asked me if I was the baby-sitter. Is that sad? That to be a grownup playing with my kids, I'd be assumed to be the baby-sitter? Or maybe it's that I'm really not a grownup yet.

We ended up staying at the school until close to 5:00 and then having to bike home in a big hurry so as not to worry anyone (too late, they were already worried). It was an exhilarating afternoon. But when I woke up on Wednesday morning, I could hardly move. Every muscle in my body felt like it had been ripped apart. Ow. Apparently, I am a grownup. A grownup who's in terrible climbing-structure shape. The monkey bars and the trolley zip are what really did me in. I literally have never been so sore all over my body in my whole life. It was worse than my early weeks of learning how to row on the Smith crew team. Seriously, if I did that everyday, I'd be in amazing shape. Of course, I can't really imagine ever doing it again based on how awful I felt for the next 4 days, but still. I would definitely be one buff mama.

Needless to say, when I picked the kids up with the bakfiets at noon on Wednesday, I did not especially want to take them out somewhere for our third weekly Wednesday Afternoon Adventure. More than not wanting to, I really felt like I couldn't. So we decided to stay home instead and let Zeb take a nap. When he woke up, I suggested that we go exploring in our own backyard, but Luke and Jaz were absorbed in their markers and chose to stay inside. Zeb and I headed out alone, and then Jaz joined us after a bit.

running out to the field

looking for bugs

wading through the tall grass

When Jaz came out, I tried to take some pictures of him and Zeb together, but after one shot he insisted on taking over with the camera.

Zeb and Jaz basking in the sun

Zeb and me, going in for a kiss
(photo by Jaz)

Zeb and me, basking in the sun
(photo by Jaz)

doing what we do best
(photo by Jaz)

Jaz decided that it would be fun to try and take a picture of all the cool things in our backyard. Here is what he found:

A bug
(photo by Jaz)

Mushrooms
(photo by Jaz)

Some Other Fungus
(photo by Jaz)

Dandelion
(photo by Jaz)

It was a lovely Wednesday Afternoon Adventure after all. Our backyard is a truly fabulous place to hang out, full of all sorts of wonderful things. I'm sure there's much more still left to discover. By Saturday morning I was starting to feel like my "old" self again, having mostly recovered from the climbing structure experience. The boys are eager for another round of "lava," and I just might go ahead and give it another try this Tuesday. If only to spend the rest of the week feeling all achy and sore, like a real grownup.