Tag: holiday

These days my daughter wanted to go the park just to get on the swing and push herself without any help.

But if it is a nice warm day, there definitely will be a queue of children waiting to have their turns.

Would she change her mind and think about another game?
The answer is No.

She is happy because at last she can go on the swing all by herself.

We waited behind two boys, one of them already got bored and left.

The boy who was already having his turn on the swing was just stretching his legs, touching the ground with his feet and giving sneaky half smile to the others waiting for the moment when he decided to leave!

We waited and waited but then it was too much. The other boy got closer and closer to the swing until the one on the swing understood that he played enough and it’s time to leave.
At last he was off!
How would you expect the other boy would do when taking his turn?
He did exactly the same as the first kid!
He started playing and his mother, standing behind, was pushing him. Then he was just sitting, looking at us! I smiled and asked him: have you finished? He said: No, I just wanted to put on my jacket. In a slow motion scene, he was taking his time putting on his jacket and not to forget to zip it fully up in such a warm day!
We waited and waited besides the waiting time before. My back was aching and i started getting angry; praying to keep patient and stay calm! I tried to distract my daughter saying; look at those beautiful birds and colourful kites! Did he miss that moment to add more time to his fun? Of course, No! He slowed the swing down asking his mother to look at what suddenly appeared to be amazing birds flying in the sky!
I looked at his mother but she turned her face to the other side!
My daughter was upset and I told her it was her choice to wait and to get on that swing. I asked her again If she wanted to try another game? But she again said NO
A mother saw what was happening, hold another swing next to her daughter’s as soon as it was free for my daughter to have a turn!
As soon as my daughter was playing on the other swing, the boy’s mother left him and soon he left it.

 
I left my daughter to enjoy her turn but told her to remember not to be long because others would like to have a turn too.

 
I sat a bit far watching her. Soon another girl came and waited next to my daughter’s swing. She had not been playing that long but she decided to go off for her.
I was very proud of her!
After having her little snack, she decided to have another go and waited for a new turn. Unsurprisingly she was rewarded by the same kindness, she got a turn and no other children was around waiting. She played joyfully and I was very happy for her.
Although I felt angry at the first two boys’ ( and their patents) behaviour and thought that they were very annoying, but I also realised that may be my daughter would have done the same or she would not have learned to think about others waiting if this had not happened!

I also remembered when we were once living in the university accommodation and the many times my boys were noisy and careless with their little friends having fun playing along the corridors while others might have been studying or sleeping. When we apologized to our neighbors, they would kindly say: it’s ok, this is a family accommodation and they are just kids!
Yes; they are kids and it’s just a swing!

Wishing you all the best,

Nahla