It's all about vigilance

The weather has turned chilly! My favorite time of year has arrived, so I bundled Johnny up and took him to the park in downtown Marion today to enjoy the crispness of Fall. I pushed him on the baby swing and helped him "drive" the bouncy car. He loves to turn the wheel on the bouncy car. The park was hopping today. There were several kiddie birthday parties going on, and kids of all ages swarmed around, filling the park with shrieks and laughter. Johnny and I played and played.

At the end of our play time, a group of older kids came to play on the springy riding toys beside us. The kids were playing rough and began doing some seriously dangerous things. The teacher in me wanted to scold them and remind them of appropriate playground behavior. But we weren't at school, so I kept my mouth shut. I looked around to see where all the other adults were, and that is when I realized I was the only parent playing with her kid on the playground. Most of the other parents had their backs turned and weren't even looking at their kids. "Unbelievable," I thought to myself.

Then, the little rug rats came over and got on the bouncy car Johnny was playing on and began jumping up and down and shaking it all around. Johnny was scared, but he really liked the other kids being around. I guess they became bored with "the baby," so they ran back over to play on the other toys. I turned my attention back to Johnny who wanted to imitate the older kids by sitting on the seat of the car even though he can't reach the steering wheel from there. About the time I helped him up into the seat, I heard a commotion coming from where the other kids were playing and rough-housing. I looked over to check on them, and while I was looking away, which didn't last much longer than a second or two, Johnny fell off of the seat of the car. Luckily, he didn't hit his face or head on anything, but he did get the breath knocked out of him.

Poor guy! Here I am being all high and mighty about parents not keeping an eye on their kids, and who gets hurt? My kid. The one whose mom is within arm's reach of him. I suppose I don't have much to be high and mighty about, now do I?

Parenting is all about vigilance. Accidents happen, but I want to make sure I am there for Johnny to wipe away his tears, dust him off, and tell him I love him. I still have to work on the not being high and mighty part, too. I dread the day when Johnny will only want me to watch him play instead of play with him, so I am going to cherish every minute we spend together.