Xtreme Skate Park at East Coast Park
In an effort to explore and do something out of the norm, we spent an afternoon at the Xtreme Skate Park at East Coast Park. It was totally chill and relaxing and got me to thinking a lot about how we spend time with Alfie.
No pants, but hey.
I’ve been a mother for two years and six months. And the whole concept of parenting to me still feels crazy, exciting and sometimes super scary. Like every other mother out there, I want to do what is best for my boys and give them the best of myself. With Teddy, I feel more confident as he is following in Alfie’s footsteps. I’ve been there and done that already. With Alfie, every day is new territory and comes with its own challenges.
Recently, I’ve made a little promise to Alfie, he just doesn’t know it yet. I’ve promised to do things at his pace. This may seem like it’s not a big deal, but I tell ya, it sure can be difficult to be aware of this at times because kids seem to follow in our footsteps - learning and growing like little weeds. In my own experience, I’ve been guilty in the past of leading him possibly too quickly. My husband and I have had lots of discussions lately about the amount of stimuli a 2 year old needs. Every child is different, but for ours, we have decided to go at his pace, not ours.
Trying to run up the bowl, maybe in a few years kiddo.
What does that mean for us? It means really listening and observing Alfie to see what his needs are. Recently, we removed any TV shows that are above his age group and could be considered too advanced for him. This limits us to Tayo the Little Bus on repeat during his 30 minutes reward after dinner (so no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Lego movies, which may be more fun for us parents to watch). It means activities for Alfie that engage him and us with the environment- rather than a constant bombardment of stimuli. If that means a trip to the zoo and he is only able to go see three exhibits, than so be it.
Coconuts, prawn fritters and mussels. Snacks snacks snacks.
Ironically, in the end, Alfie doesn’t want to do big mega adventures on a daily basis. Hanging out at the skate park, letting some of his cars roll around and having some snacks while leisurely watching the skaters was so exciting and cool to him and made his week. He's still talking about it (does this mean I need to start buying loads of elbow and knee pads for the near future?!).
It means a simpler attitude towards activities with a focus on spending quality time, talking about our feelings and exploring and noticing the little things. And most importantly, remembering that these may be little things to me, perhaps, but new, exciting and oh so very adventurous for him.
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