Fun in New York

P, as if following some intense instinctual urge, has to balance on the most precarious part of any object...

P, walking BB's eco-vehicle on our 'wooded" hike...

The word "socialization" and "homeschooler" seem to be inexplicably tied in the modern mind. But, honestly, the kid is so busy having fun with friends, mentors, neighbors (and area farmers, local shopkeepers, the odd guy on the corner, the librarian...  I'll stop there, you get the general gist;) - and experiencing the big wide world - that an eye roll just seems too understated. To put it in perspective here: I actively try to spend one day a week doing nothing with the child. Of course, we're still doing something;) but I try to make sure that its something for just P and I. Well, P and I and some green space :) 

"Green Space" - those words probably never escaped the lips of our mothers, mothering in Kansas. But its a hot topic in this concrete jungle, where people live three floors up with only a ficus for a private pinch of dig-able property. E and I were in our yards all. the. time. In fact, that's the phrase we both remember most from childhood, "Go play outside." Our lovely downstairs neighbor remembers the same refrain from his New York City childhood... (and, yes, his folks meant the sidewalk :) But, nowadays,  a mother would rather be caught dead than have CPS called on her after letting her five year old play outside by himself in this overprotective parenting culture. (Hell, I've gotten many the hairy eyeball just for letting my kid climb beyond my reach!  As a sidenote: In reaction to this hyper-active parental presence, a local author/mother recently established a "Take your kids to the park and leave them day."  Catchy as it was in acronym form, I haven't read any updates as to how that day went over...)

 While I have no dreams of leaving the small child in the big park to fend for himself, I do have dreams of him having dirt to dig in, places in which to be sullied (by something other than soot) and insects to inspect. So we spend enormous amounts of time across the street, getting dirty in the "woods." A yin to the yang of all the skyscrapers and subways. We join homeschool groups there, have weekly playdates there and, last but not least, explore by ourselves there, every week.

And on that day, no one else is invited. There is no plan, no goal, no destination, no timeline. I can only imagine that the child feels led about the world, on a daily basis. And though he is starting to master the subways and can even lead us to eateries we have long forgotten in the West Village, he's still only five and can't quite tell time, so, he is in the follower position, a lot.

So on that day, he leads. Whatever trail, whatever picnic spot, whatever mud hole he chooses, we hang. We do it when its snowy, when its rainy, when its hot, when its glorious. Each season has something lovely to offer us, a new beauty to the park (Puddles! Snow balls! A breeze!:) I rarely bring my camera on these outings, since I can lose my self when I pull it out and then he gets frustrated :) But I brought it along yesterday, and P pulled it out to play. He wanted to take a bunch of chronological shots and see them together. So he snapped a billion of me, and then posed so I could do the same for him. (Funny thing how a kid looks really cute making funny faces, but an adult just looks funny...)

Sitting in the warm grass, sweet smells of clover blowing past us, finding animals in the clouds, closing our eyes and watching them glow red from the sun. Glorious days like this that are so full of life, the really important life stuff (versus the bullshit spelling, silence and standing on line stuff:) make me so, so, so thankful we can homeschool. Almost everyday does, actually, but gorgeous tumbly park days do, just a little extra....