Dear reader, do you know what happens when your child becomes part of a classroom? Social activities blossom as if by magic. Social activities of which I feel that I have no basis of understanding. Social activities that are beyond my understanding.
Sleepovers at 5 years old.
Notes sent home in your daughter's folder from a classmate friend's mom saying "Call me!"
The option to sign your child up on what amounts to the "all-social-activities calendar."
Color me jaw dropped. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this. So much of my adult life and parenting life comes from a basic recollection of how it was when I was a kid. And I can't fathom this amount of social-ness for a 5-year old. Social-ness with kids and their families that I don't know or know well.
Dear, dear reader...I need help. A parental intervention, if you will.
Please, fill me in on the standards of parenting a child who has friends. Educate me on the ways of five-year olds and their social circles. Explain it all to me, for I feel that I am not ready. I feel that I am unprepared.
I don't know how to gracefully tread the social waters of meeting new families and allowing my child to spend time at others' houses without me around. My intent here is non-judging, but the boy and I have boundaries that we are not comfortable crossing, and those can make for difficult conversations that can easily be misinterpreted, I'm sure.
I'm giving myself a lot of talkings-to as of late. My soul is being searched. And, there's some amount of practicing in front of the mirror about how to say yes. (Not literally.)
And when in doubt, I find that diverting the kid's attention with the lure of a trip to Chuck E Cheese works well, also. Now, someone pass me a paper bag, remind me to take deep breaths, and pat my shoulder as you repeat this thought: It's okay. You're doing the best that you know how, which is something.
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