Playground Etiquette

Among the many new things that we are experiencing, one of the most interesting are the situations at the playground. It's pretty much as one would expect - there's a bully, or someone who doesn't want to share his toys, someone who pushes my little boy (who at this point is walking, but still easy to knock off balance). Do you scold the other child when his parents are there? Do you tell the parent? Do you just accept that the child is a child and there's not much the parent can do at that point? I am not really sure of the answer at this point, but there was a unique situation/confrontation that happened this weekend.

We spent the day at a new park in Jackson Heights, where we wanted to visit a park that had water (it was hot out) and was near Pio Pio, where we would celebrate the obviously marketing ploy of Pollo a la Brasa Day. Oliver wasn't so into the spraying fountains of water, he's more of a fan of the puddles at this point, but I'm sure he'll get there once he spends more time with them and gets a little bigger. After lunch, we went to the little kids playground at the same facility. Having just been woken up, he was a little sluggish to get into the whole playing thing and instead kind of observed everything around him. Up came a kid a little bigger then him, who went ahead and blatantly pushed Oliver over and kept on going. Another older kid told Erika that he was teaching his little brother self-defense because this kid was pushing a lot of kids over and his parents were no where to be seen. I told the little bully not to push Oliver over and I would push him over if he tried it again.

Anyway, the playing went on and a little later we noticed the bully's mom sitting near our stroller on the benches. We were clear across the playground and just commented that that must be his mom and that was about it. We go on playing, fun fun fun, Oliver is getting so big and starting to climb bars which is fun. About thirty minutes later, the MOM comes over to me and says, "Excuse me, you have an (sounded like "iPod" - me thinking: does she mean iPhone? Is it ringing in the stroller? No, it's in my pocket) eye problem (smart ass response that first came to my mind: Well, I do wear glasses ;-) ? I see you staring at me and want to know what the problem is? My son didn't push him over, maybe he bumped him on accident." She was like yelling at me about this. I was so stunned, I didn't know how to respond. We weren't staring at her, maybe looking in that direction at our parked stroller that had Erika's purse, but how would she know what happened with her son? Did the older kid tell her something? In any case, I told her that her son did push Oliver over and I was standing there. She said she's watching her son and I said thank you, I know you can't control what little kids do, but she was still pissed. I couldn't believe how aggressive and angry she was. And how did she know about the situation??

Whatever, I can't get over that and have a million responses for next time that happens. You live, you learn!

Summer Heat

Yesterday we had our first triple-digit day of the summer of 2012. After spending the Fourth of July locked up on the apartment due to the heat, I was desperate to find respite somewhere outside of the five boroughs and successfully got invited to a pool party at Andrea and Alan's house in Jersey.

Oliver got the chance to play with kids age with more toys than he knew what to do with and also enjoyed the pool for the first time since Aruba. As much as he enjoys his baths, we figured he would and it was great relief to be out of the heat and enjoy their good company. Andrea served up some libations that included raspberry vodka spiked lemonade, beer, white wine, etc. along with vegan cookies stuffed with cookie dough.

Today wasn't supposed to be as hot and we headed out for brunch with Susannah to celebrate her recent engagement and upcoming wedding. While Erika and she shopped for wedding dresses in SoHo, Oli and I took a walk and stumbled upon Minetta Park in the West Village, complete with a brand new high quality playground, padded ground, and a water fountain that sprayed water for the kids to cool off in. What a great find! A great way for the kids to cool off without having to trek too far away. Googling around, I found a website listing the best fountains and sprinklers in all of NYC and I plan on hitting most of those this summer to beat the heat!

Oliver no quiere comer

Mi pequeño hombrecito a sus casi 17 meses de edad no quiere comer. Son dos semanas que dejo de lado su comida favorita, arroz y pasta con queso parmesano y orégano.
Ayer hablando con mi tía Doris me comento que podía hacerle un puré de todo tipo de frutas con verduras, se le agrega leche y miel de abeja y listo!!!! Y que creen?? No le gusta plop!! En fin, hoy por ejemplo no quiso su desayuno y eso que el amaba su yogurt con cereal pero no, hoy Oliver decidió no comer. Con el afán de insistir en que coma algo le pele una manzana y siiii si lo come yeeee. Al menos fruta si le gusta. Sus favoritos sandia, fresas, plátano y manzana. Ojalá que sea por el tema que están saliéndole sus dientes y no porque tiene algo.
Lo que si no perdió fue las ganas de jugar y desordenar 😃 las energías las tiene siempre al tope. Y lo que le gusta es dar besos, muchos besos. Si es así como será de grande!!!