I got back this afternoon from a family outing to Houston. My sons, Peter and Mark, and grandson, Andrew and Caleb, attended the first two Chicago Cubs games of season. Great time and lots of male bonding. The only downer was the Cubs split the two game, losing the second in extra innings.
Yesterday we took our grandsons to the Children's Museum in Houston. Three adult and two kids sounded like pretty good odds. Somehow we lost track of Caleb at least three times. He is an extremely active and curious three year old. He also knows little fear; not a good combination when you are in a building filled with things for kids to explore. Maybe it's a guy thing but we never panicked. I guess we figured he would be safe, as long as he didn't leave the building.
It brought back memories of times with his dad. When Peter was a toddler I would take him to the shopping mall and let him explore. I always stayed at least ten steps behind and just let him wander. It was always interesting to see the reaction of adults when they saw this little boys walking all by himself, straying toward anything that looked interesting.
There is a real benefit in putting young children in an environment where they can explore and then turning them loose. I attribute some of Peter's independent nature and inherent curiosity on those early experiences. I see the same attribute in our other children, Mark and Katie as well. I would encourage you to seek out those placed where can play and explore on their own. A city park or playground might offer such opportunities, and most of those are free. Park your self on a bench and let them go, always under your watchful eye of course.
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