I wouldn't have believed this if I hadn't been there:
This morning, Eric and I went to our first session of Toddler Patrol at our local nature center. It's a beautiful sunny day, but cold, and I suspect that's why only three kids showed up: two three-year-old girls and Eric. After reading some books about snow, doing a snowflake art project, and feeding the nature center's fish, we bundled the kids up for a nature walk. We stomped around in the snow, looked for animal tracks, observed that the pond we visisted so often last summer is nearly frozen over and the frozen part is covered wih the tracks of small animals making their way to the unfrozen part to have a drink, and scattered birdseed deep in the woods. Lots of fun.
On the way into the woods, the two little girls ran ahead of the group. Eric was dawdling along beside me, enjoying the crunch-crunch noises his boots were making in the snow. And here's what one of the other mothers said to him:
"Eric, aren't you going to run after Christina and Ryleigh? [Yes, that's how it's spelled, but it's pronounced "Riley."] They're winning the race! You should catch up to them. You should never let a girl beat you! Go after them! You have to beat the girls!"
Eric ignored her. I told him that he did not have to race if he didn't want to, and that if he did race and a girl was faster than him, that was just fine. And then I checked to make sure I hadn't accidentally set my handy pocket chrono-controller to 1947.
Posted by Su Penn at January 20, 2004 02:45 PM | TrackBack