It's the Little Things

To file under Never Thought I'd Be THAT Parent:

Today at the playground, I almost had a seizure over the fact that my kid proactively played with another boy. Subsequently, I nearly collapsed upon the cold hard concrete in a complete rapture over the fact that he successfully climbed up one of those spiral poll things, announcing "Mommy, I can do this!" with each step. The kid has always been one of those playground lurkers who watches all from afar and well, has not shown much evidence of being blessed with a lot of physical prowess. So these small triumphs make me want to rent a billboard on the local highway announcing these accomplishments. The level of my pride today is akin to the highly embarrassing moment when I was accompanying him to a "Little Tumblers" gym class when he was 17 months old and I burst into tears as we held on to a parachute and marched in a circle with all of the other kids and parents singing "The Wheels on the Bus." (Re: this link, maintaining my "image of a mom" status, I have no idea who the GiggleBellies are, but who could resist such a name, or the tripped out, funkified version of one of the most boring kids songs known to man.) Dork that I am, I could not believe that my little guy was willingly participating in this activity and actually just doing it, smiling and singing the whole way. Like a real live kid. That I made. Amazing.

I'm not sure if my self-esteem is so low that it never occurred to me that a little fella I created could possibly achieve anything or it's just that it's so rewarding to see the creature that lived inside of you for nine months participating in the world. But either way, I have given new meaning to the term "proud mamma.

Case in point: our daycare sends each kid home with a daily written report of everything that transpired in your kid's hours away from home, from nap time to amounts of food ingested to numbers of diaper changes and the diapers' contents. Then at the end of each sheet are teachers' comments on your kid's behavior and activities. Needless to say, I am overwhelmed by the following reports from his first week at school (don't ask me how many times I've read each one of these. and don't bother to ask me if I'm keeping them in a file for all eternity. you already know the answer):

• "Charlie is using full sentences when he talks to his teachers. He shared his toys all day. He loved playing on the playground."*
• "Charlie did a wonderful job playing with another buddy during free play! He is doing a great job sharing with all the Beetle Bug Friends"**
• "Charlie was very happy to be at school. He engaged in circle time and played a running game with friends at the park."***

* I am getting weepy as I type this. I kid you not.

**As you may have already discerned for yourself, Beetle Bugs is the name of his class.

***When I first read this report, I thought the handwriting said a "winning" game. I asked myself what kind of game 2-1/2 year olds were playing at which they could actually win since my kid barely knows what a game is, and then I leaped right to: "My kind won a game!?!? Whaaaahooo!! Oh yeah!!!" I then I thought better of all of that and figured out that it said "running." I'm still proud of the running. Even if there was no winning involved.

And yes folks, I am even proud that today at the park, the kid pooped. It runs that deep. Too bad I forgot to bring diapers with me. Not so proud of that.