Just What She Needed
Last night we held a going away party for our friends who are about to jump into the mission field in Paris, France (yeah I know, poor them). We discovered that hosting a party is so much easier when other people bring most of the food.
It was a very enjoyable evening, and we had a good turnout. We visited with a lot of people we hadn’t seen in a while, and I’m fairly certain I gave myself diabetes from all the cake and sweets.
Totally worth it.
Little Button had a blast as well. She made a new friend at the party - a couple we know brought their son, Lucas, who is 3 1/2. Button was a little shy and standoffish at first (after all, J has been telling her that boys are bad until she’s 30), but she soon warmed up to Lucas and they spent several ours playing together. They had a blast running around, sliding, watching TV, eating cake, and chatting. The current state of our playroom is proof that good times were had by all. By the end of the night, Lucas was calling J “Daddo” and Button was (repeatedly) asking Lucas if she could hug him.
At one point, they even closed themselves inside the pantry and conspired together. Soon, Lucas emerged to ask me if he could have a breakfast bar - which was no doubt Button’s idea, as she asks for them several times per day. I walked into the pantry to find Button holding the box of breakfast bars.
It was so nice to see her really playing and interacting with another child. I have been somewhat concerned about her tendency to be a little aloof around other children, blaming myself for not socializing her enough. While it’s probably accurate that I’ve been a little lazy in getting her used to other kids, it occurred to me last night that most of the kids in our peer group are younger than she is.
Button is very advanced for her age in language skills - which when said by a parent may come across as bragging, but really it’s just a fact, and one we take very little credit for. A fact that has been stated by our pediatrician and just about every adult who comes in contact with her. Actually, we learned last night that apparently our friends who have kids sit around and talk to each other about how brilliant Button is.
So needless to say, the kids she usually “plays” with, who are mostly several months younger than she is, don’t have the same language skills and therefore can’t fully engage in her favorite form of entertainment: endless conversation.
Last night between Button and Lucas, there was a constant stream of chatter emerging from the playroom. When they eventually came down to join us, they continued to make observations to each other, ask and answer questions (in complete sentences). It was really quite adorable to watch them interact.
And by the end of the evening, Button finally had to admit defeat and concede that she had met someone with more energy than she has (gasp). She was completely worn out and started insisting that she was “ready for her nap right now” before all the guests had left.
When J put her to bed, she wiggled under her covers and sighed as though she did not know it was possible to be THAT comfortable. Then she said, “Daddo, I had a great day.”
Indeed.
