"Hiiiiii!" "Bye! See ya!"

I think the first prerequisite to civilization is an ability to make polite conversation. - W.H. Auden

Roman enjoying the slide at the park and Daddy waiting patiently at the bottom.

Just the Beginning

As I've mentioned numerous times in previous blogs, my husband and I have been making a conscious effort to take our son Roman to the park, to meet and socialize with other kids. Something, he'd been lacking for the last two years because of the pandemic.

So, on our fourth maybe fifth trip, we met a two-year-old little boy who was a talker. He ran up to Roman to play, and started talking away. Roman, looked at him leerily... unsure of what to make of him.

Roman with a big smile on his face getting ready to go down the slide.

Finally, I said to Roman, "Say hi bud!."

Roman without hesitation, looked at the little boy, put up his hand, waived and said "Hi!" as loud as he could.

It was a proud moment for this mama bear.

He's a Gabber...

The little boy sat and talked with me for a while, meanwhile, Roman ran up the steps and down the slide.

Roman sitting at the bottom of the slide watching the little boy.

But, they shared a moment. Albeit brief, but it was engagement that wasn't forced.

Roman was sitting at the top of the slide, while the little boy enacted passing out. Roman, shocked, turned, gasped and reached out to touch him to make sure he was okay. It was in that moment, the little boy picked his head up quickly and laughed. Roman smiled and let out a big ol' belly laugh.

It was a genuine reaction to another child his own age. My heart smiled with pride.

Time to say Our Goodbyes...

Eventually the family wanted to leave the playground and go for a walk. Roman was busy running around, and didn't notice they walked away at first.

Once he looked up and realized, out of no where he ran to the end of the playground, and yelled "Bye! See ya!" while waiving his hand proudly in the air.

Once again, the interaction wasn't initiated by myself or my husband. It was the first time since taking him to the park, that he was initiating conversation, interaction and reaction to a child his own age.

My Hope...

“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” – Robert H. Schuller

I have so much hope for the future of Roman's development. Seeing him blossom and open up to a world he's never experience in his two years of life, is just inspiring to me.

It's always amazing to me as a mom to sit back and realize just how resilient our kids truly are. Their ability to overcome hurdles that as adults would typically send us into a spiral, just blows my mind.

These changes, while some may say small changes, in Roman, are big giant steps forward for him, and our family as we struggle to navigate a situation never seen in our lifetime.

Connect with me!

Please, feel free to reach out to me on social or email. I would love to hear your stories, share your stories on this platform, but also do the research and ask experts what we can do to give our kids the best future possible.