i spent a few hours on tuesday with another young friend of mine (not quite two years old). we hung out at the playground across the street, we read books, we chased the kitties around the house, we played with the water in the sink, and a few hours passed quickly. i don’t have kids of my own, but from my baby-sitting experiences and from what i’ve heard from other parents, kids have a way of making time disappear. i noticed when i was at the playground, watching him figure out all the different playground equipment, that it was somewhat necessary for me to be “right here, right now,” keeping a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t hurt himself (some of the things at our playground are a bit old). now i realize that not all kids are quite as “chill” as this child–he pretty much never cried or whined or got fussy the whole time he was at my house–and i realize that if he were my own, full-time child, i wouldn’t have the time to always be 100% “right here, right now,” and following the “what do you want to do now”-whims of my kid, but i hope that i can be that way at least sometimes.
