Toddler Friends

K has begun to grasp the idea of 'friend', and he's been making N and I feel a bit guilty because, frankly, he doesn't HAVE any little friends. He plays with tons of kids whenever we go to the parks, or...anywhere really, which is all good and fine, but it's not the same as a consistent playmate. I don't want to pick his friends for him, but it's INCREDIBLY hard to make playdates when all I have to go by is a few passing words with the mother or father of a little kid he's happened to play nicely with at the park. Maybe I'm just not as forward as I could be, but I always seem to "miss" my chance at arranging a playdate, or K suddenly decides that he hates the little boy or girl he's been playing SO nicely with just five minutes before.

So, I decided that it might help if we got ourselves on more a consistent schedule of whereabouts. As it is, I decide where we'll go each day literally as we walk out the door. That way, I can judge K's temperament for the day, my own preference, the weather, ect...before making anything like a plan. Which, is all fine and good, but means that we're not very consistent at running into the same playmates at the park.

But, that's REALLY HARD. The East Bay area is SO huge, and SO wonderful, and SO much fun to explore that I just can't seem to commit myself to any one area of it.

So, then, I decided that I'd try committing to two storytimes a week that are supposed to be WONDERFUL for kids K's age and super conducive to meeting other parents in a more conversational atmosphere. BUT, it turns out that K has developed an avid hatred for all things pertaining to storytime. The moment I say the word 'storytime', he literally begins to sulk and scream, "Maybe I don't LIKE storytime!".

We got up SUPER early (for us) this past Tuesday to make it to a storytime that I was SURE he would love. It's run by a really fun Dad, involves LOTS of singing, and is filled with 30 or so kids all roughly K's age in a great little neighborhood. While all the other little kids sang songs, listened to stories, and played with toys in a back room designated for storytime, my kid sat in the children's area playing with a puzzle absolutely SCREAMING anytime I mentioned checking out the storytime. *SIGH*

Needless to say, we left once he was done with the puzzle, and I think I'll be forgetting about storytimes for quite a while.

Actually, though, I think his problem with storytimes is the whole stuck in a room thing. He's VERY into open space and free expression right now, and I think that anything structured is just not going to appeal to him for a little while. Which, is fine. It just might make finding a 'friend' a bit harder.

But, as I mentioned to N, clearly he's not THAT desperate for a special playmate or else he would have run right in to a room filled with little toddlers singing songs and dancing!

*A side note here for grandma ;-), We did make playdate arrangements with a little girl we met at the local unschooling group, and I DID catch up with an old friend of ours from our last trip down this way, and we should be playing with her and her little girl sometime next week. Fingers crossed that K still adores this little girl!