The kid is in charge

Wordle 485 3/6

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Yesterday's brunch was pancakes (half a batch; I felt like the usual amount was much bigger than we needed) and scrambled eggs. The morning was leisurely enough. But the afternoon...

From noon to 2 we did a shift fundraising for the Scouts BSA, which the kid is a member of. It went well. She was very helpful and responsible. We also happened to see "Miss Kiki", the owner of the daycare she went to, so that was a nice reunion. (And we sold her popcorn.)

After that we had a very quick lunch at a Mexican place nearby. Then we went to a class playdate. (As in, the whole second grade at her school was invited, although it wasn't sponsored by or located at the school.) It didn't turn out to be that big a gathering, probably less than a dozen kids, but ours had some friends there and that's what counts. That was almost two hours.

Shortly after getting home, another friend of the kid's came over. They spent almost an hour together, playing upstairs and decorating cookies from a kit T. had bought. Unusually, the friend's mother hung out the whole time. Not that we mind the company, but they recently moved across town. So dropping her daughter off and going home would have been harder than usual for her, and it was nice to catch up. 

Dinner was Mexican pizza. Good but messy and takes much longer than the recipe says.

If it seems like our entire life revolves around the kid, that's not entirely wrong. I feel like there are several reasons for this.

1. She's the most irresponsible and dependent member of the household in totally age-appropriate ways. She's 7.
   
2. If she had to entertain herself, she'd watch TV as much as we let her. When we put a limit on that, she might entertain herself in some peaceful, harmless way for a while but would eventually start bothering us. So instead we let her (encourage her to) socialize or do more constructive hobbies. Good parenting seems to require something like this. When I was her age or only a little older, I could be expected to entertain myself for hours outside, but I grew up in the country and she isn't.
   
3. We're still recovering from covid - not medically, but socially and personally. For about six months there were no activities at all for the kid. For about 18 months after that there were no activities unless they were outdoors, masked, or both. Things were kind of back to normal in the early summer but then we spent a lot of the summer doing our own weird stuff, like my whirlwind family reunion and the Spain trip. And so on. This fall is busy to make up for two-plus years when we couldn't be.
4. Even things that don't involve her directly have to involve her indirectly because she's a kid. See point 1. If T. and I have a simple date, we have to either bring her or have childcare plans.