The sun in amongst the rain

No doubt about it, parenting is likened to a marathon and not a sprint. A good friend of mine told me that the other day. Teaching your child about the world and all the good, the bad and the ugly takes a lot of effort and a lot of time. Also a lot of patience. A lot! A LOT!

So guess who decided as soon as we got to playgroup on Tuesday that he would rather sit in the buggy than run around? Then 20 minutes later he asked to go home. "Mummy, I want to go home".

10 seconds later, "Mummy, I want to go home".

5 seconds later, "Mummy, I want to go home".

1 second later, "Mummy, I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home".

We went home. No delaying tactics worked, and wait - isn't playgroup supposed to be somewhere the child wants to be? We went home and we mucked around on technology for a bit and then we went shopping.

I am definitely not a lover of shopping, but boy did we have fun shopping! We ran around the big red shed and browsed every isle and contemplated purchasing lots of things but in the end walked away with 2 books, 2 drawer organisers, and a pair of "Spiderman" gumboots (they just have spiders on them but he calls them Spiderman gumboots which is great because I didn't have to pay for the royalties).

It was such a beautiful day weather wise - the one day this whole week when the rain went away and the sun graced us with its presence, and perfect for going to a park and running around. But I didn't want to be brow beaten by a demanding 3 year old at a big park with lots of contraptions that I really did not want to participate in and on. So we went to one of my favourite little spots in the city - Browns St reserve.


It's tucked away a few doors down from Ponsonby Rd and spans the width between Richmond Rd and Brown St. The playground consists of 2 swings - that's it. 2 swings, a pathway, some benches, lush lawn, and enclosed with white picket fences, agapanthus and lavender bushes. The shrubbery is seasonal and well maintained, hence every time I'm here I feel like we are in someone's private little garden.





Kien had a great time on the swing, and here's a video to prove it.

Here is a link to the HD version: Swings At Browns Street Reserve from Lien on Vimeo.

After that we just did a lot of running back and forth from one end of the reserve to the other. He'd say, "Let's race", and I would agree, and then he'd say, "Ready, steady, go!" and take off squealing with delight. He'd always want to win, so he would give me instructions, like, "Mummy, I'm going to win. Okay?" or, "Mummy, I want to win!" Luckily for him he's playing with his mother, or rather he's my son so I'm not about to get all competitive or anything.





We ran and giggled and jumped over bags and shoes while the afternoon slowly came to a close, and it was magical.





He picked daisies for both his mum and his dad, mostly for his dad.



I took a photo of him giving Jef the flowers he picked. "These are for my daddy.", he said.



It goes to show we can get sun amongst the rain, and when it shines it beams.