S first play date

Today S had her first play date. She is very friendly with N, a girl in her school ( N had comes for her birthday etc) and us moms decided to let S and N bunk their park outing from school today and instead play at home. Before you accuse me of making S bunk school, I was anyway not keen on sending S for the park outing because its really hot in Mumbai now (38 degrees plus) and the scheduled outing was for 41/2 hours which assuming an hour for travel, plus some time back at the school for snacks, would still mean close to 21/2-3 hours in the sun. S has just recovered from a long spell of cough and cold and I didn't want to risk her getting a sunstroke or fever from being in the sun for too long, especially with the packing and shifting over the next few weeks. Plus I take her to the park nearly everyday so she won't be missing much.

So instead, I took S and A (now I try to take A everywhere along with S so that S gets used to having A with her , and sharing my time with her, and really soon I won't have much choice anyway) to N's house in the morning and the kids had a great time. S and N played continuously for 2 hours- from blocks, to train, to clay, to make up (pretend of course), to cycling (S saw N cycling on her own and got motivated to try cycling on her own) to scooter to tea set to drawing with crayons. They also ran all over the house, throwing a ball at each other, jumping on the bed and generally were very excited to be with each other. For once S did not ask me to come and sit with her and was comfortable playing in another room away from me. Usually she would ask me to come and sit with her while she is playing with someone else- even if children come to our house to play! She even ate two dosas- the first she ate on her own, but then i fed her the second as we were getting late for home and for A's lunch.

A had a nice time as well- she chomped on the chocolate stick that was given to her, examined all the toys (some with her mouth also) kept looking at what S and N were upto, went up to them and played with their toys and once in a while would come and sit on my lap. She missed her nap time in the morning and I was quite surprised that she didn't get cranky till we reached back home (I guess so many new toys, children playing, and getting a lot of attention from everyone).

It was overall a nice experience, I loved seeing S so happy and A so comfortable. I didn't have to run behind the children much and was able to speak to N's mom. S and A have both started becoming more comfortable at our friends (who have kids) places also - or rather happily make themselves comfortable with their toys and snacks!

Sigh- just when the kids are getting settled, we'll have to move! I hope S makes some nice friends in her school at Zurich.