Growing Out of Me

We arranged a play date for Troy and his friends today at Kids Empire. Since they have split up the classes at school, Troy no longer gets to see some of his friends. We run into the parents at drop-off or pick-up sometimes, and it was generally discussed that the kids missed each other. So, we coordinated everyone’s schedules to try to converge on today.

Things don’t always work out like you hope though. Misha couldn’t make it, because they were out of town. Sasha made it for a little bit, but her dad had brought her, and he didn’t want to stay very long (consequently, he also brought work with him, and he sat by himself and refused to socialize with anyone). Numair was going to come until his mom got sick at the last minute, and they all stayed home. But we still had Charlotte and Jacob, and Sasha for a little bit. So, it wasn’t a total bust.

I have mixed feelings about these play dates. The kids have a blast together, running around and wearing themselves out, but I’ve noticed that Troy is now old enough that he no longer needs me to play with him. And well…I kind of miss it. I’ve been conditioned for so long that I feel like one of the group. Now, I’m relegated to the sidelines with the other parents forced to stand still and speak adult. It seems odd to me. Luckily, the kids still needed me eventually…or at least my money. At various points, I was called upon to swipe my card on the machines, so they could bop a minion, or claw-grab an alien, or chase each other on the motorcycles. It wasn’t as fun as chasing them through the play sets, but I guess it’s my new lot in life.