Just like my kids!

I love Homespun Juggling's comics. She hits the nail on the head so much of the time! I can't relate to the cat antics, having never had cats, but that matters little. Her latest comic could have been a snapshot of our days. Go read it. I'll wait.

My kids don't like large groups. Honestly, they don't like crowds of any kind. Kiddo has been known to sit with his hands over his ears while waiting for a play to start, or even at the Orchestra Hall concert we went to last month. In the summer, if a park is too crowded, he will often ask to leave, or to come back when the kids are in school, no matter how fun the park is! It isn't that he isn't social; he loves to hang out with a few other kids at a time. Too any people, however, not his thing.

Kutey doesn't mind noise and groups as much, but she is also more clingy in those situations. She sat on my lap for the orchestra concert last month, and for most of the play we saw last month as well. She doesn't vocalize her displeasure with large groups, but I know she gets tired and irritable more quickly in large groups.

I love this quote from the post:

"The only problem was that we often met extremely unsocialized children in the playground and other places after school hours."

Yep. Not always, and not all children. Often enough, however. That is also not to say that I haven't met homeschooled children who are unsocialized as well. It is just more likely in a larger group that you are going to encounter them. And the outing will go from OK to bad.

Now THIS is an outdoor classroom!

One of the reasons I love our Tuesday playgroup so much is that we regularly spend vast quantities of time out of doors. Kids are at there best when they have access to that. So this sounds fabulous! I love that it is mixed ages (coincidentally approximately the same age range as out playgroup). I love that they go out in all kinds of weather (I admit to being a bit of a weather wimp. I like to be warm. Cold and rain are no good. Makes it tricking when I live in Minnesota). I got the feeling they are given lots and lots of freedom to play, which would be the ideal. Think we'll be seeing anymore of these?