Personality Differences

One of the things I love most about having two children, is watching and nurturing their very different personality styles. There is never a dull moment! Today, we went to our local super market that has that really big play area in it which I previously mentioned in another blog.

Once we arrived, the boys excitedly burst through the door and went in different directions. I went in with them and sat down on one of their many soft benches so I could keep an eye on both of them from a distant vantage point.

Immediately, both boys were surrounded by their own groups of "friends" who were just happy to follow them around. In the past, this has occurred occasionally, but eventually the other children would disperse to once again find their own level of mischief. And usually, those same kids would then come over to me and excitedly practice the very few English words they know, ie, "Hello" "How.are.you?", "My.name.is...", etc. It's always very cute...I love it! :)

However, today, the kids that attached themselves to both boys couldn't be shaken. haha It was hilarious to watch!

Brandon had two girls who stuck to him like glue! They ran after him no matter what he did to shake them. He dodged, he ran up the stairs, slid down the pulley system, ran around the equipment in his efforts to shake those girls. The girls were about 7 years old and wouldn't be dissuaded from their efforts to be his friend. haha He came up to me and told me, "I want to play alone." A little later, he approached me and said, "I want those girls to go away." And a little later, he again told me, "I don't want to be their friend anymore. I really want to play by myself." I said what any mother would say, "Just you wait, son, some day you should be so lucky! Someday, you'll be begging to have two girls run after you with such vigor!" But, of course, that didn't make him feel any better so I told him to try and pretend they weren't there if it really bothered him that much. He scampered off again. Ahhh, our oldest son...he is definitely one to eventually make lemonade out of lemons. When next I saw him, he rounded a corner to play in a little area near me and he was teaching the girls English by pointing to different objects and telling them what they were, such as, A, D, C, triangle, circle, green, yellow, etc. I guess he had decided that if you can't ditch 'em, you might as well teach 'em...something. :)

Ryan...ah, our little Ryan. His approach to his entourage of newly found friends was completely different. And what's really amazing was that he needed no words to communicate his desires. He handled the language barrier with absolute finesse. It was clear HE was their leader. The kids around him wanted to show him one thing or another and he indicated what HE was interested in seeing...and ALLOWED only certain kids to help him. I watched our little 2 year old dictate what was going to be seen, how it was going to be done and just who was going to help him. I watched as he climbed the stairs to one platform, pointing, first, to one child and screeching a "halt" to the child, telling him NOT to touch him. Then I watched as he allowed another boy to take his arm towards a slide. He then turned back to the first boy and again, put his hand out as a "stop" position and screeched a warning. Once he approached the slide, he indicated to the only boy he was allowing to help him, should sit on one side and slide down and then he made it very clear, HE was to sit on the other side and slide down. Another different boy tried to "cut" in front of Ryan's "allowed" friend and was about to slide down when Ryan grabbed his shirt, screeched again and said "NO!." Amazingly, the boy acquiesced and Ryan and his accepted friend slid down together. The boy Ryan had chosen to be his friend was very sweet. He followed Ryan around, lifting him up, helping him out of things, showing him different structures, handing him objects to play with, etc. Ryan chose well. haha

Two kids. So different. I love watching them! I love to embrace each of their personality styles and help nurture them to grow into who they will eventually become. I love that their differences offset one another to eventually help each other. Brandon is always trying to teach Ryan new words and teach him about the world around him. Brandon's sense of caution OFTEN helps temper Ryan's mischievous spirit. Ryan's fearlessness helps to bolster Brandon's own confidence as well as encourage Brandon to step out of his comfort zone...just a little bit. ;)

On another note...
As I was sitting in the play area, I witnessed something disturbing. Some people may wonder how the split pants works in the play areas. Are the kids encouraged just to squat anywhere and do their thing, even in play areas? The thought is disgusting. However, I have never seen any child squat in a play area, so maybe there ARE guidelines to the whole process, right? Well, today, I witnessed a matron hold a veggie bag to a little boy while he peed in it. Unfortunately, the bag had a very small hole in it, so as she waved it around, little pee droplets splashed onto the soft mat. She didn't notice for awhile, but when she did, she looked at me and proceeded to get a kleenex to wipe it up. Did she get all of it? No. Did we immediately leave? You bet.

It's unrealistic to say, this AND WORSE, hasn't happened in these play areas. However, if I dwell on it, I won't take my boys ANYWHERE. So, I have to assume the employees clean up these areas on a regular basis, knowing the nature of kids...and their parents. And I'm SURE I don't have to tell anyone we take hand sanitizer everywhere and wash our hands every time we walk in our door!