We went to PE with our Co-Op yesterday. And we had fun, at least, most of us did.
Backtrack just a bit, to yesterday morning at breakfast. I announced what day it was, and GeekBoy declared, “I don’t want to go, I don’t like leaving the house.” Now, reality is, he said this mostly because he was already knee-deep in a pile of Legos, working on his next creation. But I can’t blame him. I’m not a big social person either. I’m a wallflower. always has been always will be. I’ve always been on the outside of popular. I blame public school, where I got bullied and made fun of daily. I also blame private school, where I was shut out of virtually everything “cool” because of who I am, and who my dad was (he was a business manager at the school). I do have to recognize the genetic factor, because both of my parents were also outsiders. Being an outsider is not a bad thing. But it is incredibly frustrating for a child of 7, who just wants a turn with ball, but isn’t given one.
So we had a talk yesterday morning. I told GeekBoy that honestly, I’d rather home too. But. We can’t. PE isn’t just playtime, it’s also a good way for him to learn how to interact with other people, and other kids. Yes, you know how to behave here at home, and playing with your brother and sister is good. But! You need to know how to act around other people, not just us. That’s why we go.
He accepted that and off we went. We all stretched out, and then the kids ran laps around the big fellowship hall the Co-Op borrowed. And by “kids ran laps” I mean my older two ran around a few times, while I jogged next to Lil’Chicano, who insisted on doing 4 laps. Then the kids played 4 corners, where 2 “its” tried to tag the child running from one corner to the next with a ball. And by “kids played” I mean GeekBoy got it, thePinkDiva especially loved when she won one round, and Mom ran the corners with Lil’Chicano, who insisted on playing with big kids. It was fun. like i said, tPD won one round, and Lil’C won another. Those little kids, always overlooked. See GeekBoy, sometimes being short pays off.
We played a form of tag, which meant mom following Lil’C again, and playing with him. During this game, tPD had a run in with another kid. She wasn’t hurt physically, but her pride was apparently damaged beyond repair, so she sat in a corner and sulked for the rest of the day.
Then we played Caterpillar. Some weird game where the circle of kids tries to hit the kid on the end of a four person caterpillar with the ball. Only problem with this was that we had about 10 kids, and only 3 or 4 actually got a turn with the ball. So of course every time the ball rolled out of the circle it was a mad dash to get it! The mad dash not only made the game hard to play (because most of the circle wouldn’t stay put), but it also resulted in a minor meltdown from GeekBoy. He’s not the fastest, or the biggest, or the strongest kid there, so he constantly lost out on the Mad Dash. Which left him frustrated to the hilt.
So they kids played Freeze Tag instead. This time, mom actually got to stand on the sidelines while the kids ran wild and crazy for a little while. Then a quick game of Shark & Minnows (without the water). And truly, the line of the day – GeekBoy to the big guy (a teenager who is taller them me!), after the big guy tagged him twice, “You already tagged me once, I’m on your side. DU-U-UH!!!” he he he.
Then we came home, and discussed various situations that occurred throughout PE, and how we should have handled each event a bit differently than we did. And by “we” I mean whichever kid that was involved at the time.
Overall, though, it was a good time.