A playground reminder
After a friend’s birthday party on Sunday, Zoe and I stopped at a little playground in Noe Valley before heading home. We hadn’t been there in a long time (it’s a small one that’s mostly geared towards toddlers), but I was taken aback when Zoe walked in and declared, “I’ve never been here before.” “Zoe, you’ve been here bunches of times!” I cried out, and I immediately flashed back to our many visits when she was much, much smaller. (Of course she didn’t remember, I later thought. It was years ago.)
Zoe went on the slide a few times before getting bored and settling down with me on a bench to enjoy a book under the warm sun. Before we left, though, she jumped on a piece of equipment that looked like a bouncy horse: It was too small for her, yet she still bounced back and forth – her hair flying and her long arms and legs spilling from the sides – and laughed like she did when she was younger. I didn’t take her picture, but the sight is still etched in my mind: My “little” girl, on the cusp of being too big for the playground (or, at least, this playground), on the cusp of being too big for so many things that she enjoyed in her pre-school life. And, yet, still so innocent and sweet.
How time flies.
-M