We were thrilled that Kai was invited, but also nervous about letting him go without one of us there with him. We had never dropped him off at any birthday party, always choosing to stay with him even if the party was not far from home. This party would be long; Kai would be gone for about 5 hours including the 45-minute car ride each way. If a problem arose at the zoo, we wouldn’t be able to get there quickly.
Furthermore, Kai has not shown much interest in zoos. When Kai was much younger, we occasionally took him to Lincoln Park Zoo, located in the city. But he did not show much interest in the animals, he usually ended up upset, and we always wondered why we bothered taking him.
So it has been a long time since we went to a zoo.
After thinking about all of this, my wife reached out to the mother of the boy and told her that Kai had never been dropped off at a party before. The mother was very understanding, telling my wife that she was welcome to come with, or she and Kai could drive separately in case they needed to leave early. We wanted Kai to spend time with the other kids, so my wife accepted the offer to go along with Kai and the others in the same car.
After all that worrying, I’m happy to report that all went well yesterday. Kai and all the boys had a very nice time.
Here you see him at his favorite venue, Stingray Bay, where you can touch the rays as they swim by.
It was nice to see that he could handle such a long outing with other kids.
Maybe next time we will let him go by himself.
I know the nice surprise of seeing new maturity in my son. I know how you must feel now. This is such a huge step for Kai. Of course, the real test will be when he knows it will be just him on an outing, but at least he is well on his way now.
ReplyDeleteYes, good to see progress. The challenge is to keep pushing forward, while figuring out how much is too much. On this, we can loosen the reins a bit, I think.
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