Give Me Five, Man!

We were thrilled to have another playdate with Kiki yesterday and what fun this was! We bounced in the house, played in the dirt, painted, and then took a bath (it's amazing how much is painted outside of the canvas). At one point, Makenzie was painting Bailey and then would put her hand up and yell, "B - give me five!" and Bailey would high five her. It was like she was saying, "check it out, we're getting messy and no one is stopping us, give me five!" It was a fun day for all. As an aside, we're collecting quite the gallery of art work - our first showing will be when the storage unit can no longer hold all of the 8x8 masterpieces (should be in about a week - to any family who is reading this, guess what you're getting for Christmas this year?!?!).

I was thinking about how special it is that Bailey has Makenzie. It bums me out that they are moving because I've had all of these lofty visions of them growing up together, hanging out in high school, blah, blah, blah (who knows, they may have hit junior high and decided that the other stinks...). I've had to shift my focus a bit, though. Certainly - I love the relationship that the two of them have. But, it has also taught me that Bailey is fostering the skills needed to build relationships with others. There is something in her that recognizes the kindred spirit in others and she pays attention to it. I've noticed that there are a couple of kids in playgroup that she gravitates to more than others (not that they get all "clique" ish. But, there are smaller groups of kids who obviously connect with certain others more easily - it's the natural way, I think). For example, she talks quite a bit about Addison, Tyler, Zoe and Kiki, but it's me who brings up the other kids - then, she's excited about them, too. I think that there is just something about these kids that clicks with her. She likes the other kids, certainly, and occasionally their names will filter into her conversation. She just connects more closely with a smaller handful.

Ah, I'm rambling now. Where am I going with this? Good question. I think that parenting causes a lot of introspection and I think about my socialization growing up. I was really awkward with kids. REALLY AWKWARD! My sisters called me a hermit because I never really socialized with anyone. I didn't have any real bonds growing up. I really can't think of anyone that I would have labeled as a close friend until I was in my 20's. I was also really alone and lonely. I don't want that for Bailey. I definitely have no plans to push any of that onto Bailey, and I've no need to live through her. But, watching her socialize is so refreshing. It gives me hope that she will continue to recognize those who she bonds more closely with. That she is capable of paying attention to whatever is in another child's personality that somehow "clicks" with her. Will there be another Kiki in her life? I don't know. But, I'm looking forward to watching her develop closer bonds with her other buddies and making new friends. And, if they're any bit as colorful as Kiki - she's going to have a blast!!