Yesterday my family and I went to a new-to-me park. My wife and son had been there previously with an aunt a nephew. The last time they went they were treated to a bustling park full of children and parents and activity. Part of this was because it was in the hot months of summer, and this particular park has a water feature. Wading pools and spraying water always draw lots of attention in the heat. Amazing times were apparently had during that day I wasn’t there. I heard about it for a couple of days from my son. He kept asking about when he would see his cousin again. In other words: it made an impression. Their joy that day was immense. Going back (albeit without his cousin) was something I looked forward to.
My wife lovingly packed a lunch of several sandwiches, apples, and water. Simple, but effective enough to give us comfort in the early afternoon. We had a late breakfast and didn’t want the hunger of lunch to prevent us from playing. Our son started out by carrying our lunch bag up the hill (he’s so helpful). We found our way to a picnic table in the shade and began to eat. No surprise that our son wasn’t very hungry. He saw swings in the distance. Sure enough, we chowed down quickly and then started our son on the swings. Eventually we moved onto the little kid playground. It was sort of fun. Our son, however, wanted more. We eventually found our way to a big tube slide. This is a different animal. You can’t see the outdoors when there’s a twist in the tunnel. You can’t see the end. That fact alone makes the tube slide scary. Did our son get over his fear?