A Lesson from the Playground

I had an opportunity to practice being present while my kids played at the neighborhood playground! The boys were having a:

BLAST

playing with a girl named Moira. They were playing with her for quite a bit until her Dad gave the classic line that every kid hates to hear when they are in the middle of making magical memories:

Alright, Time to Go Home

She let out the classic “Ugh!” and was on her way.

The funniest thing is that my son acknowledged her leaving yet was relatively unbothered.

My eight year old moved along just fine. He said something along the lines of:

Bye, Okay, At Least There is One Other Kid on the Playground

It was really beautiful to watch. He was fully in the moment playing with Moira but him having fun was not dependent on her staying on the playground the whole time. It’s like his kid brain said:

Her Time Is Up (Thanks for Playing!) -> Now New Friends “What’s Up?!?”

It made me think of how we adults could benefit from this mindset. To allow the ebb & flow of people in our lives to occur.

A Person Can Be in our World without Being Our World

If my son had the mindset of Moira being his only play buddy he would’ve never looked around to see who else was around. He moved on to playing with the one other kid on the playground (plus his brother) & as time went on – more folks showed up.