Jack has a new best friend, who lives, conveniently, 2 doors down. I know my son. I know he can be pushy, and bossy, but I KNOW he LOVES this kid. At 5:30 a.m. every day, he is asking me if it's 3:30 so he can play with Erik. NO! NO! NO! I have not had my coffee, I am NOT functioning, stop asking really hard questions.
Today we got to take Erik to the park. Jack couldn't have been happier. Then my little stalker son knew exactly when it was time for Erik to be home from school, so he stalked his way over and invited him to play. Here's where it got interesting.
I truly believe boys are not left to their own devices enough. They don't get to climb trees, shoot sling shots, or JUST BE BOYS. Here's where my son and the neighbor boy excelled today. They decided to climb the puny newly planted trees in my yard using bungee cords for help. They were wearing their helmets, so I deemed it OKAY and SAFE. Plus, it's not like we have big trees, more like sticks in the yard with leaves, so I supervised, made sure no one could really hurt themselves and proceeded to weed the bushes.
Then, they got CREATIVE! They were both hooking the bungees together to make a slingshot off the tree, and were shooting Nate's Diego sunglasses into the Cul-De-Sac. Now, I realize a NORMAL mom would be freaking about the possiblity of hooks in eyes, but, I warned them, and they both made sure to be free and clear of any hooks during shooting practice. What was so neat was to watch their problem solving. Sometimes the glasses didn't go to far, and I listened to the boys trying to figure out new Bungee configurations to make them fly further. Sometimes it didn't work well at all, and I swear, they put their heads together and talked about it, and got something cooking that made "boy sense", and then they slung the glasses into the cul-de-dac and got really excited because their experiment worked.
At one point, someone drove by and waggled a finger at them, and shook her head. Let me be clear in stating that they were supervised at all times (although they didn't realize it), and really, whose business is it anyways? Here were 2 boys, problem solving, in a very real sense to them something that was really important, and really, kinda scientifically cool. I DID draw the line when they started bungee slinging other bungee cords. That could be dangerous, but the discussions were awesome and relevant. It was really hard to curb their enthusiasm. (Also, in our Cul-de-sac, it is our house, and 2 others, one of whom is not here during the week, the other family doesn't arrive until after five, so the boys were not in danger of hurting anyone, or anything, waggling finger lady!) The therapist in me couldn't have been more proud!
So I say, let boys climb trees and shoot sling shots, and hold worms, and watch Star Wars, and think their own thoughts. These little men we are molding are amazingly interesting creatures, who can problem solve, avoid injury (give them a little credit!). and learn social skills and how to love and care for each other.
Maybe I'm not a "normal" mom. But, I'm hoping to create free thinkers, problem solvers, and kids who aren't afraid of their own shadows. I want them to be their own little personalities, but I want them to respect their neighbors, and friends. Maybe waggling finger lady knows more than I do.
But, maybe not.
1 comment:
I think you are on to something here. I think I need to back off of the unstructured play that I seem to structure too much. My kids don't climb trees though...but they have figured out new ways of playing on the playground equiptment that makes me cringe. I can't stand it when strangers try and help control kids. Back off finger wagging lady!
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