Social Success at the Indoor Gym

It is a very fulfilling feeling as a parent when you are able to anticipate your child's needs, and then meet those needs. A couple of weeks ago a was able to do just that and it felt really good.

It was nasty outside so I took the boys to an indoor gym held at a local church. I knew there would be lots of children/people there. I knew it would be loud and somewhat overwhelming in the beginning. I also know that Oscar is pretty shy initially places like that, and that this would be a major stretch for him. We went anyway.

We walked in. Bam! I could see him retreat inside himself, as he quickly became glued to my side. His familiar wide eyed observant face appeared. I could tell he was panicking inside. I leaned down and told him everything was going to be alright and that I would be right here with him the whole time. He looked at me sternly and through clenched teeth said, "I want to go home." I told him calmly that we would give this a try for 10 minutes, and after that if he wanted to leave we could.

While we looked around for a somewhat less child dense place to play, Angus tried out a few different trikes and scooters but never wandered too far from us. The kiddie basketball hoop seemed clear, so we bolted over there. I picked up a ball and started shooting some hoops. Oscar began to loosen up a bit, picked up a ball and shot some hoops too. Angus joined us in our shooting fun, and pretty soon we were having a great time together playing amidst the noisy chaos of the child filled church gym. A couple of other boys joined our game for a time too, and my boys adjusted to it and kept on playing.

When the boys got tired of basketball, the three of us decided to play with some giant mega blocks. Some of which were nearly the size of Angus' legs. It was just us at first, and we were having a ball building up a block cave so that one of the boys could crawl in it. Once inside we would cover their whole body in blocks. Then they would erupt up out of the cave, making sure every last block of the cave was kicked down. This continued on with just the three of us for a while. Then pretty soon a few more kids joined in, then a few more, and pretty soon about 10 other kids had joined in our cave building game. All the while we were in the thick of it making sure that each newcomer to our game had a turn to bust out of a block cave.

When it was time to clean up and go, I was surprised and very pleased that my children were really sad to leave. They nearly fought me to the door.

I am glad that we pushed through the initial shell shock of the crowded gym. It was a success for Oscar and Angus, and I felt really happy that I was able to be right there with them to help it be a success. I was also reminded at how attractive fun is. When people seeing us enjoying ourselves and having a genuinely good time they want to join in too. Instead of being too nervous or afraid to try something, focus on something you want to do and do it! Have fun with it and pretty soon others might want to join in the fun you created too. Most likely you will forget that you were nervous or afraid at all. I hope that is something I can contiue to help Oscar and Angus learn.