However, apartment life has some different dynamics for a family with young children. We have no outdoor space to call our own and no enclosed area that is safe for youngsters to play unsupervised. So when the weather is nice enough that everyone wants to be out (when it's not that nice we're often the only ones playing outside) our outdoor play area - read parking lot - becomes a busy playground that offers Cora and Peter a lot of opportunities in practicing sharing "our" things and play cooperatively with their peers. With up to 20 kids aged 5 and under this also means there is a high need for parental refereeing. An added challenge is that there are 4 different languages being spoken by the kids and their parents. It's quite the experience! I've maybe made it sound negative. Generally we love having so many kids around to spontaneously play with, and the culture and language differences have mostly been intriguing.
Let me help you imagine this: Either we all (me and the kids) go outside or we all stay inside. When we are outside we have to watch out for cars coming and going through our parking lot as that's primarily where the kids play. We have to make sure no one gets too close to the road since people tend to drive at frighteningly high speeds. We have to have limits on how far away the kids can go to play - and they always seem to go in opposite directions. If we bring out a snack there has to be enough for everyone outside and be prepared to share more than we actually eat ourselves. The bikes and scooters have become "everybody's" which is usually fun until there are more kids than there are toys. A big box of sidewalk chalk only lasts one hour. Don't even think of bring out a toy like a ball that requires serious turn taking skills! Now don't forget that even 5 year olds start having "best friends" and can make each other feel left out. They are very capable of creating a bit of drama. Throw in the complexities of multiculturalism and limited language abilities and their playtime can become quite confusing. Now consider what happens when Cora runs to me saying that her Japanese friend wants her to play in her house. I go to verify with her mom who speaks little English (but way more that I speak Japanese!) if that's what's happening and it appears this is the case but some of the Korean kids have followed them into the house, too. This mom now has a small apartment full of kids that she can barely communicate with and who knows what's going on! She needs to make dinner which is why she was bringing her kids inside and I start wondering if she actually invited Cora over or if her daughter did so without asking her and when I came to verify it sounded like I was asking her if it was OK with her to have Cora play inside...and then all the others followed suit...Who knows?? Awkward...So she kindly invited me in also and I offered to help her with her dinner preparations. She was making "dumplings" and said it was Chinese food! We worked on it together for a while and afterwards I took my kids home. I needed to start making my own dinner and it was just time to go home.
Last week it was exhausting! I loved the warm weather but with there being constant kid activity right out our door and windows it was hard to get anything done inside or to convince my kids that we actually had to walk through the crowd of their friends to our car and run an errand. Never mind getting a walk in! So it sounds silly, but I'm finding a little relief in the return of colder weather. It's still nice enough to get outside quite a bit but the swarm of activity has fizzled out for a while.
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| Catching bubbles |
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| Picnicking on our deck |
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| Still love this house and glad we brought it with us! |
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