Bear misses being around other kids. So I signed him up for a couple of days at a Snowflake Camp through the park district to help fill in over the long Christmas break from school.

After I did that, I found out some of his friends would be visiting Chicago. But still, this morning, I dressed him up and took him over to the rec building.

Egads.

It was a sad little group of 6 boys - half around 10 years old and half around 6 years old (Bear's age). The big boys were hucking a basketball at each other with no discernible rules except to throw as hard as they could. The younger boys were making bracelets with lanyards.

Bear went and investigated a corner of the room.

"Look," I told him, after forcing the counselors to introduce themselves, "you don't have to stay. This was supposed to be fun."

"I know," he answered, looking around. "But it's OK. You can go. Just come back after lunch, OK?"

I found a chair and watched for another 15 minutes. Nothing much improved.

"Bear?" I called him over from looking out the window at the windy, empty playground. "You sure? I can just sit out in the hall and read my book, if you want more time to make up your mind."

"I'm fine," he insisted. "It's good for a little while."

I don't want to be one of those mothers. The ones that hover long after their kids have pushed away for some independance.

But, man, it was so hard to put the van in gear and drive away.

Posted by: Elizabeth at 06:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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