You May Think This is a Fairytale…

Earlier this week, Wren threw a paper in my face as soon as I stepped through the door after school. “I need to tell you something important.”

“Ok,” I said, dropping all the bags I was carrying.

“We can mingle now.”

I must have looked perplexed because she went on to explain that during recess, they can finally play with other classes. Up until this point, they’ve been assigned to different areas of the recess area. Their school has been pretty conservative with their Covid mitigating measures. The letter she brought home also shared that they could now sit on the rug for read aloud and meet in small groups. All good news in my opinion. The conversation ended and I didn’t think much of it.

Until the next day after school when the girls were sharing about their day. “How was mingling?” I asked, expecting happy stories of kids playing and meeting new friends. Wren and Adi started at a new school this year, so since things have been kept so separate, they’ve really only been able to meet the kids in their own classes.

“It was bad,” Wren reported. “Now no one wants to play with me.”

We went through the list of friends she usually plays with, trying to help her find a solution. Some kids were playing with friends from other classes. Some friends were playing kickball…she doesn’t know the rules. Some kids just wanted to sit and talk. She had decided to play soccer, but no one passed the ball to her. She just ran up and down the field during recess. According to Wren, there was nothing good about recess. I could tell she wasn’t in the mood to find a solution.

“Maybe you need to be a little more flexible,” I suggested.

Then, Adi jumped in. “I’m going to tell you a little story. Once upon a time…You may think this is a fairytale, but it really happened…” She went on to tell a story about a new girl in their class who just came up to her and a group of friends one day at recess. The girl asked to play and ever since that day, they’ve all been friends and they all play together.

I chuckled at Adi’s storytelling, all told while cartwheeling around the house. She surprises me sometimes. It often feels like she isn’t paying attention to others and even if she was listening, she often acts like she couldn’t care less about what problems you might be having. But, her story shared a great lesson, that I hope Wren takes to heart.

Now, we’re just busy trying to convince Adi to join the April Slice of Life Challenge for Kids!