To Declan, the most generous gift you could ever give him is your time.
I play with Declan more than I ever did with my other two children. There came a time when I was not the most fun playmate, and my older two children moved on to play with other children. Don’t get me wrong, they still love to see me play basketball with them on the street, or catch in the pool. But given me or a peer, they are off. Totally cool – they are ready and need peers.
Declan has not branched off to peers yet. He did not notice peers at the playground for the longest time. He started to notice them, and would hit, so I never left his side. Declan is ALWAYS on the go. So I need to have him outside running around A LOT. So we play. In the sandbox, sliding down the slide, playing superhero….that is where you will find us.
Today, we celebrated Fall and went to the local orchards. He had a lot of fun:
We played on the playground and bought our first sign of Fall: a small pumpkin. Declan was excited to go to the orchard to go to their bakery, and get a pumpkin cookie.
He saw all the displays and wanted to get his picture in all the heads. As a boy and then a girl:
“Now I want my picture with the potatoes,” he said.
.
He talked to the goats. He was scared of them biting him, so he did not get too close
Our trip could not be complete without a trip to the pond. We brought our old bread for Declan to feed the fish. Declan had sugar from his cookie on his hand and wanted to wash his hands, but he wanted to feed the fish just as bad. He came to the cross-road and stood equal distance between the bathroom and the pond. I asked him,
“Declan, what are you doing?”
“I am standing on the rocks.”
I sometimes forget how literal his mind works and ask the wrong question.
Once he washed his hands, he fed the fish. He ended up making friends with a turtle, which just made his day
To Declan, the most generous gift is your time. He loves to dress up in costume and have a battle with you. He loves it when my dad comes and “plays” his video game with him. He loves it when you will sing a song and dance with him. I know the time we spend with him, helping him learn how to play will help him when he branches off and plays with peers.
And today, we celebrated Fall with pumpkins, cookies, goats and turtles. He had a great day.
Looks like a fun time was had!
My daughter always has to have bread for the ducks, whenever they go to the park.
Declan was hoping ducks would be in “the duck holder” but they aren’t always in our pond. We always bring bread too – we did it once and so we will do it every time we go now 🙂
Sounds like you guys had a lot of FUN! He was correct in avoiding getting to close to the goats, I have been bit by one before. Have also been bit by a miniture horse who actually broke the skin on my arm at a pet store! Do I have a strang smell that makes animals wasnt to use me as a chew toy?
Oh my goodness! Haha, hope you are okay! Thank goodness he didn’t feed the goat :-). Thanks for reading!
It is a wonderful story! I liked that you are spending more time with Declan in different projects.
Thank you!
Sometimes, through life’s complexities, we forget how much joy can be had from simple things. Lovely story. Thank you. 🙂
Thank you for reading!
Agreed about time. I think it is the most precious thing you can give anybody.
Also, we LOVE Highland Orchards! We prefer going there over Linvilla. One of my favorite things to do is to go pick peaches or strawberries there, let my kids play on the playground and feed the goats, the have a delicious sandwich at that deli — that deli makes my favorite sandwiches! — and apple cider donuts in the store.
Oh my gosh, you made me hungry 🙂 I think we may have to go there soon! Thanks for reading!