Being a Kid

On Sunday I went to Salem to visit my sister and her family - the one with three kids. The weather was fantastic; clear, cool, and sunny. Rene was at the Oregon School for the Deaf, where there's a great playground and a lot of fields. Her friend, Kate, and her husband and two daughters were there as well. Kate's husband was flying his remote-controlled airplane. It only turned right, so it kept making big circles and then crashing.

After a few minutes, Rene, Kate and I took the five kids to the playground, a short distance away and on the other side of a building. Being the indulgent aunt that I am, I played whole-heartedly with the kids. Kate said I reverted.

At the swings, Sebastien (4 years old) kept saying, "Do a underdog!" and "Look how high I am!" Olivia (2 years old) has started imitating everything Sebastien does, so she sat on the swing next to him and said "me! me!" Sebastien was no help at all - telling me to do an underdog for Olivia. It's tons of fun to play rough with Sebastien, but he doesn't understand that a two year-old isn't quite big enough for a full, run-under-the-swing push like he is. Of course, if I spent two minutes pushing Olivia, Sebastien started begging me to do another underdog. Sean (1 year-old) hasn't decided to walk yet, so he was confined to the stroller. From which he kept trying escape.

When we left the park, I joined Rene and crew for dinner at their house. I watched VeggieTales with the kids while Rene and Bryan fixed dinner. In the middle of everything, people came over to look at some furniture that Rene is selling. They came in the door, and Sebastien was all over the introductions. He told them his name and age, his siblings' names and ages, and "this is my mom." The family included a 4 year-old girl, and Sebastien quickly instigated a game of hide-and-seek. I think their 10 year-old daughter was amused.

At the dinner table, Sebastien asked me, "Sarah, are you a kid?"

"Why?" I asked, "Do I act like one?"

He smiled shyly (or slyly), "Yes."

I told him that I like him so much that I act like a kid sometimes. It was very sweet.