Yesterday was a lovely day. Let’s unpack.
T went with my daughter to the NY Comic Con. He goes every year and this is the first year she went with him! They were gone from about 8am till about 1pm. Took NJ Transit train and overall had a great time.
Meanwhile, I stayed home with my son. We had some books due at the library so we decided to take a walk to return them. Moreover, the nor’easter was supposed to arrive around noon so we needed some time outside.
We walked to the library (.7 miles), then to a cafe (.4 miles) and back home (1 mile). In total, we slowly walked 2.1 miles. It was cool and fall-like outside, the cafe (that’s also a book shop) was cozy, and the pastries – delicious.
This cafe also sells books! Like, actual physical books that you can touch and read, and smell, if you are me. I love the smell of both new and old books. Not Barnes and Noble but a local small business on Main Street in our town.
I ask R to pick a seat while I place our order. I see him land next to two older gentlemen. I then see him showing his plushy to them and finding out they are from Türkiye. He goes “my mom is Russian.” They keep talking and turned out one of them is a former math teacher.
I grab a table close by and start having my coffee and reading The NY Times that someone has left behind. R sits with me, has his muffin, then moves back to his new friends. Next thing I see they are teaching him to play chess (a chess set and a domino set are available to customers).
When my kids talk to other people, I try not to interfere. It’s tempting to do so, to answer for them, fill in the blanks, make the corrections. But I want to teach them to make genuine connections on their own. The example above with those two gentlemen at a cafe was so heart-warming.
The nor’easter didn’t arrive until 4pm! And although the state of New Jersey did declare a state of emergency, people is central Jersey just had rain and some winds. Perhaps the damage was more serious along the shore.
The rest of the day was spent paying it forward to future Daria:
Do you let kids make conversations with unfamiliar adults? Do you interfere? Or, do you mentally remind yourself that they’ve got this?
Is there a cafe in town where you live?
Mom of Children 