boundaries

rarely will i let dad type a blog entry, but you need to hear this one from his perspective - over to you daddy. joel

Liz read this intriguing article about toddlers not straying more than a certain distance from their parents, even if they are given freedom to do so. You see this, of course, with young children clinging to their mum's legs, or trying to get dad's attention, normally by doing something that they know annoys him. Also if you observe in the playground, the child will always be within good sight of a parent and tends not to wander off unless permission is granted.
So, we thought Thanksgiving morning yesterday provided the ideal opportunity to test the theory.

Trimble Park, a beautiful, well-maintained playground, next to a school playing field with great views of the city. There's a good fence around the whole area with only a few exit points. We sat, enjoying some autumnal sun in the paddling pool - sometimes filled with water - currently filling with leaves. Joel has the ball, as you can see from the picture (1). Joel kicks the ball out of the pool and starts ambling off away from us in the picture.

I wonder how far he will go?

Joel dribbled the ball offf towards the goal (2) looked back just the once to raise his arms, shout "goooaaal" and check we saw his score, he then made a beeline directly for the nearest exit (3) a good few hundred yards away, and didn't look back once to see if we were following or watching him.

I guess there always has to be one exception to break the rule!? I sprinted for the exit to meet him just before kicking the ball into oncoming traffic. Bless him.