Friendly Friday

Shane's good at Connect 4 for his age. He can watch out for traps, but hasn't learned how to set them. I was proud he took losing in stride. He seemed to comprehend the strategies I mentioned, as well! He's going to be hard for the school kids to beat.

Connect 4 evolved into it's own mini-game. 

Which further involved into a game of Shane's making. It didn't make sense, but maybe that's why he had so much fun.!

Rah knocked. He said he was going to get picked up by his Dad at 6 for the weekend, so we stayed out to play.

Shane likes to climb.

All over the place.

Rah stayed on the ground. Somehow a berry throwing game commenced.

I brought out paper, pens, and Dog Man books after they overheated. Then I encouraged the boys to draw. Shane had a longer stamina for it than Rah (Talking the entire time!).

Rah asked about some games after art. I brought out a small selection. Rah wanted Uno. Shane wanted Battle Kittens. They got some exercise in compromise.

I tried to stay inside. Have I mentioned before I think it's important for kids to get practice interacting with other kids? They're both so loud I can sit and listen in to whatever goes on. First, the boys worked out which games to take turns at. Shane accused Rah of cheating in Uno and they worked that out. Then Shane tried to answer questions about how to play chess.

The best experience gathering moment? Some of the Uno cards fell through the deck. The boys decided to use the welcome mat to prevent repeats. I'd seen the possibility immediately, but as long as the boys were playing Uno and not a game I cared more about I let it happen. That dread of the cards falling is a lesson with more staying power than me saying, "Play on the mat."

I did hop in for a few rounds at the end.

The kids played with the hose for a little bit at the end. Rah couldn't get wet....and I didn't want Shane to get wet anyway!

Rah's a good kid. It's good for Shane and good for Rah to hang out but I still make it a point to keep tabs on what goes on. There's a big enough age difference between the two and, while Rah's physical needs are met, he doesn't get a ton of supervision. He's not into trouble or any trouble, but age and less supervision normally means access to things that I don't want Shane exposed to too early....especially in the era of the internet and electronics.

Near the end of the school year, Rah started to have a mini-tablet at the bus stop. Normally, he sat across the street to get wifi signal from his house and rushed over when the bus pulled up. However, one time Carrie took Shane to the bus stop for me. Rah was watching this without headphones:

The beginning had guns and it was a couple of weeks after a school shooting. Carrie was upset. She didn't see the power rangers come up and Shane kept trying to run over. When Shane hopped on the bus he immediately went to sit next to Rah (Normally, they split up). 

I asked Rah to show me the video when I saw him in the circle later. He doesn't have many interactions with Carrie, but he knows me, knows I care, and cares what I think. He showed me the video. Shane, ever nosy, asked, "The one with the dancing power ranger robots?" when I sent him inside, so I'm 99% sure Rah didn't try to pull a switch on me.

Rah and I watched the video. Then we had a discussion about why the guns upset Carrie, how Shane was younger than him, and I asked, "How do you think Shane's teacher would react if he started rapping ____?" I let that sink in a moment. Then I reminded Rah that Shane's younger than him and said I didn't want Shane watching that type of video. Rah got the picture. We had a similar discussion about the game GTA once.

Honestly, on a scale of 1 to 10 of what you can find on the internet, the video wasn't bad. It's not something I want my impulsive, can't-stop-talking child to be introduced to yet, but it's par for the course with something a 4th grader in a city would be around. The world will be quick to introduce all sorts of things. Parents are quick to hand kids electronics. 

We didn't have any more problems with videos the rest of the school year.

Like I said, Rah's a good kid. I think the internet and electronics create all sorts of exposure risks to things kids aren't ready for (or even that I'm not ready for!). Shane and Rah play low-tech outside. That's something I think all kids need.