Enjoying the fountains of youth

July 22, 2012

There are some days I’d love to teach Nathan how logic works. How many times we’re not trying to be mean or hold out on him but we’re really acting in his best interest. One of the best examples of this is not letting Nathan go out in the heat over the past couple of weeks.

We know he’s frustrated of looking at the same walls, and would love to get out of the house more. We take advantage of getting out for church and if we’re going shopping for any extent of time, we’ll let him get out and stretch his legs. One day during the week, Annette got him out in his walker while a neighbor had his sprinklers running. Nathan didn’t know what was going on, but when the sprinkler hit him, he realized he was alright and it went back the other way, he thought it hilarious and started running to get to the next one.

A few Sundays ago, while Annette was hosting a party at the house, he and I sought out to find things to do and I decided to try to head out to a local mall with fountains open to the public to see how he would act and potentially cool off while still being outside. Of course, I didn’t check the times and learned that it had shut down for the day only 10 minutes before we arrived.

Enjoying some time in the fountains This past weekend, we decided to try again, a little bit earlier (and not on a Sunday) with much better luck. Although he was not sure what was going on, being able to see other kids, especially kids that were having fun convinced him that it was worth giving it a shot. He tentatively approached where the water was rhythmically shooting out of the ground (in various patterns) he seemed to make the association with having fun, and started to participate with the other kids.

Another child was quickly intrigued by Nathan’s walker and came up to him. She asked a slew of questions, but never seemed to belittle him or treat him poorly. When Nathan saw her head through the fountains, it gave him the confidence to go as well. The other girl had learned where the water was coming from and where some of the “safe zones” were and she would stop there as not to get completely soaked as much as possible. Nathan really didn’t seem to mind some of the direct shots he took, and enjoyed walking back and forth for almost 20 minutes.

Of course it was my job to help make sure that he didn’t run over any bare toes of any of the other kids in his walker, which meant that I didn’t remain dry myself. We had a change of clothes in the car for Nathan, but I didn’t realize the necessity for myself, so I was in for a few hours of sitting in wet jean shorts until I got home. Even so, it was a fun time to get him out and doing something new, and something that kids his age should enjoy doing.

I’m happy to say that as much as people may have looked at him when he arrived, that no one really pointed, taunted, made fun, or ran away from Nathan. There were some toddlers that were a little too fascinated with the walker that they paid more attention to him than to the fountains which could surprise them and knock them to their butt.

Watering our lawn seems to be a lost cause for this year, but we may have to let Nathan run in the sprinkler at home, just to know we don’t have to go too far to have a fun time. He may not meet and new friends, but sometimes getting wet with mom and dad can be a good time too.

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