Me and JP, Observing Kindness…

 

I’m participating in the 2016 Kindness Challenge hosted by Niki over at The Richness of a Simple Life.  For Week Two, we were focused on observing kindness around us.  I’ve found that no one really seems to understand innate kindness like small children.  They are so quick to accept others, share things, say hello, wave, hug goodbye, and play together easily.

About a month ago a couple of my friends who babysit their grandchildren and I decided it might be fun to get the kids, JP, who is  3 1/2, and Ella and Elizabeth, who are both four, together to play while we grandmas visited and didn’t have to entertain them for a few hours.  It was a downright brilliant and inspired idea!

The girls go to two different preschools part-time and my grandson JP will be starting late this summer, so with their schedules and ours, Tuesday afternoons were the time that worked the best for all.  And, thus, the Grandmas Playgroup was born.

We meet at one of our children’s houses because that’s where the toys are.  And because one of the girls has a baby brother, we’ve been meeting at their house so he can have an afternoon nap in his own crib.  The kids had met a few times in the last year or so but not to play in a group.  We weren’t sure if it would work out because three can be a tough number sometimes…

So far it’s been wonderful fun.  The children are just so accepting of each other and play together so nicely.  They share toys, offer each other snacks and help each other with dressing up.  One week I’d gone upstairs to check on them and Ella was helping JP put his Ninja Turtle shell on.  So cute.  And so kind!

The first week dress up together…Elsa (from Frozen), Cedric (from Sophia the  First) and a Fairy Princess

And this past week we had a few friends ask to join us, because obviously, Grandmas Playgroup is the place to be!  And word had spread that we had such a good time — we’re ladies who lunch minus the lunch and plus the grandkids!  We bring fruit snacks or grapes or juice boxes for the kids and one friend makes delectable treats each week, along with a pot of tea.

Most of the time the kiddos run upstairs to dress up or play in the pretend kitchen in the playroom or downstairs in the family room while we visit in the real kitchen.

Has it been totally perfect?  Well, there have been the occasional incidents, like jumping on the bed with someone hitting his head on the side table when he fell off…  And when the play tent collapsed, which was no big deal, they all raced downstairs to tell us, claiming it was everybody’s fault!

After the jumping on the bed incident two weeks ago, JP and I had a talk on the way to Playgroup last week:

Me:  What’s something we shouldn’t do when we’re at Elizabeth’s house?

JP:  No spitting.

Me:  Well, yes, that’s a good one.  What about no what on the bed?

JP:  Oh, yeah, no jumping on the bed.  And no hitting.  No hitting the girls with my Ninja Turtle scythes because if I do, mama said she will take them away and throw them in the garbage!

Me:  Okay, then…

 

The weekly goodbye hug…

And on the drive home after Playgroup:

Me:  Justin, did you have a good time playing with your friends today?

JP:  Yep.  Nana, did you have a good time playing with your friends?

Me:  You know, I really, really did!

And then we sing along with his favorite Taylor Swift song on the radio…

~ Diane D.