Evening with Sarah

Spent a couple of hours with my granddaughter last evening at the annual Greekfest in Ottawa.

She played the whole time. My role was mainly to keep her out of harm's way while she roamed, and give her parents a chance to enjoy dinner together.

And that is pretty much all I did. At 28 months, she is steady on her legs, highly curious, focused and easily distracted at the same time. So other than watching for things she could bang into or trip over, all I had to do was follow her around. Took a few pictures, but not so many that I forgot that I was there to enjoy her company.

(I have made the too-many-pictures mistake in the past, and been told off by her with a "No Cheese!")

A puddle left over from an afternoon rainstorm kept us busy for about twenty minutes. Not too much splashing but cool on the feet on a hot evening. Wade in to the middle, wade out again, repeat. Occasionally stop for a bite of food, or a sip of juice, but then back to the puddle.

Once she had learned all the secrets the puddle had to offer, we went for a long perambulation around the grounds -- some walking, some hopping, some dancing. Stopped every so often to check out other kids her age. Babies seemed interesting.

Danced to the music for a while. (Hopped, mostly.)

Near the music stage, there was a long cable protector. She walked up and down that forwards, sideways (most of the time), and occasionally backwards. When the music stopped, she did too.

A little girl about a year older decided to use the same runway, and after a few suspicious looks, they settled on a plan to share the path. Whenever they met, each would move enough to the edge of the protector to let the other pass without bumping into each other.

The other girl was treating it like a runway at an airport, arms out as if preparing for takeoff. Sarah experimented with that for a couple of trips up and down the path, then returned to hands at her sides,  out just enough to give her a bit of balance, head down, focused.

So the time went. Sometimes rambling around. Sometimes paying attention. Not particularly concerned about Mom and Dad's whereabouts.

She learned lots; I didn't teach her anything.

Hope she got a good night's sleep; I know I did.

Takeaway: Keep her safe, and stay out of her way. When she was interacting with me, she wasn't learning anything. She is perfectly capable of doing that without me.