Trevor is not a little boy any more. I can really have an almost grown-up conversation with him and not even bat an eye. A few weeks ago, he stayed over at a friend's house while I took Gwen to her ECFE class. Except for preschool where he is watched by his teachers and with a whole group of kids, I haven't left him to play for a long time. So it was really nice to hear (and I guess it shouldn't have surprised me) that he and his friend Elizabeth played really well together.
So I decided today that since we have been cleaning getting ready for Thanksgiving and his birthday on Thursday that it wouldn't be too hard to host a playgroup and invite all his friends (and their moms and siblings) over. I wasn't aware that a lot of the preschools (and actually even the public school district) has school today. But I still invited any of the moms that wanted to come over to come for a chat. So TRUTHFULLY it wasn't just for Trevor. Now there have been instances I'm sure that other kids have gotten together, to help out in a pinch or to babysit or whatever. But it had been a long time - before Gwen had been born - that we all had actually had a playdate at our house.
I was a wreck as was my usual introverted, not good party hosting self. Trevor was on cloud 9 as is his extroverted, life of the party self. I'm really looking forward where he can take on more of the responsibilities of hosting a party. But by the time all the kids were here and their moms, it all just fell into routine. The preschool kids played really well together. And I mean REALLY well. Not one tear was shed. The younger kids were able to play somewhat at least watching the older siblings. But that gave us moms time to chat and get a little caught up. And what is the topic of conversation? KINDERGARTEN. YIKES. Yes I'm looking forward to it (and Trevor is too), but it seems to be starting whole different types of discussions. Where, how long, which time of day.....are they ready for it....it is so nice to have these moms in my life and I hope somehow we are able to keep it together. Even if it is just through email.
I was talking to Gwen (and formerly Trevor's) ECFE teacher Debra last week and she was saying how she felt like she was a great parent when her kids were babies. But she now is a parent of two young teenagers and she feels very out of place. She has a mom's group of teenage boys that email once a week discussing their children. What a great idea! And actually, my group of friends that I know online have been a great source of help for me as a parent. But I think it does help to discuss some local things as well. School and church activities and such.
And one other thing that I think everyone that was there will agree needs to be documented. When we were at dinner last night, Trevor was being his usual self. Something that I haven't really pushed has been using silverware to eat. He uses it for spaghetti, soup, cold cereal, but doesn't for things like waffles (yes with syrup on it), buttered noodles, and cooked broccoli. But when I saw him stuffing his face with a fistful of noodles I decided he needed to start using the silverware. He had obviously learned how to use it so that wouldn't be an excuse.
So he finally was using the fork for the noodles. Then, the remainder of the dinner was meat and lettuce with ranch dressing. For both the meat and the lettuce he started using his hands again, and when Russ asked him again to use his fork. Trevor's reaction was "No dad. The fork has noodle slobber on it." Nice.
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