Around 7:30pm this evening, I did what most parents would never do with their kids-- I took mine to the park. As you can see above, 7:30pm is not the busiest time at a playground.
That said, there were a few other parents/grandparents/caregivers blowing time and energy with their kids. For awhile now I've wondered if there's some sort of support group for the sleep deprived parent. I could use one of those from time to time (often). Well, I need to look no further-- those parents whose kids refuse to go to bed at those normal kiddie hours and/or need less sleep than an ER doctor on call are all congregated at the good ol' park after 7pm! Now, we didn't bond per se. Everyone is too exhausted to exert any real effort at making friends. We're there just to exert those night owls. It's pretty obvious the park is the LAST place we really want to be as it gets dark.
But you know what? I think we'll do it more often. It's actually fantastic to be at the park when not many others are. Boy and I took a walk and he hauled this massive stick around the track with one hand and held my hand with the other. (Queue the tears, it was so adorable.)
We also spent a good 30 minutes swinging. That's 30 minutes I wasn't watching a Pixar movie!!! I love Pixar but it was more than refreshing to -- god forbid-- turn off the tv and spend an evening out of the friggin apartment.
As we drove home around 8:30pm, I saw another mommy with a toddler boy walking the streets and while I didn't stop the car and haul her into a long embrace, I did think, "That woman knows what this is like. Her kid doesn't sleep 'normal hours' either. I love her." Speaking of love-- I love this guy above. I'll love him (and the park) even more if we have an uninterrupted night of sleep. It's a given the park outing has exhausted me. The Boy? I'll know more by morning.
