>Idylwood and Fox Hollow

(He is saying, ” I think you better go wight now” because someone had said that to the kid who went in front of him, knowing that SP was waiting. Love my little parrot.)

After we went to the park, we went and had lunch with his daddy, which was a good idea that I should’ve had a long time ago. Definitely will be doing that again for just a regular morning.

Ok, then yesterday we went to Fox Hollow Equestrian Center, which I’ve probably driven past a hundred times or more and never once noticed. A friend of mine who reads this site suggested it for a field trip, but we went on a Wednesday because they do these open “playdates” one Wed. morning a month. It was ridiculously crowded, as apparently a local moms’ group had advertised it and a lot of their members had come. Once the crazy parking was sorted out, though, it did turn out to be more or less fun. Well, less than I had expected, but more than a typical day.

They have lots of animals for the kids to see (and chase!), including horses, chickens, pigs, bunnies, goats, ponies, and kittens. Let me just say that the chickens had NO FEAR. They were like ducks at a public beach; they knew that if they waited long enough, some small child would drop them a delicious crumb (or, in SP’s case, three whole raisins)!

They also had these toy tractors that the kids could ride, which leads me to my favorite photo of the week (click to see it larger):

My disappointments were as follows:
First, it was a little expensive for how little there was to really do there. But since I don’t plan to go more than once or twice a year, I can deal with that. Second, their website promised food, and anyone who promises me kettle corn and then doesn’t have any food whatsoever is entirely Not Cool.

Last, Sebastian was almost entirely uninterested in anything there was to do there, not seeing the animals, not riding the tractor, not seeing the friend and her son we had met there. He wanted to run around. In circles. He wanted to step on the flagstones, avoiding every crack. Back and forth, back and forth. It made me crazy standing there by myself (my friend’s son was happy to wander around and see everything) while he ran laps. I was incredibly frustrated, feeling like this was a waste of money and what exactly was the deal with my child anyway? All of the “is my child normal?” thoughts popped up, which is crazy, I know, but it’s hard not to wonder when he is the only one behaving like this. Don’t get me wrong, the other kids were running around, too, but their running seemed to have a purpose. They were running from one attraction to another, not running in circles or stepping over the stones.

And as I told my husband, I want him to notice the world around him. He could run in circles anywhere! Didn’t he see that a GOAT was two feet away from him??

But then I had a revelation. It’s all right if my child doesn’t notice what I think he should, or what other children do. He obviously thought the flagstone walk was fascinating, and if I think about it, why shouldn’t he? We don’t encounter them all that often. He’d been at home playing for a few hours already, so why shouldn’t he just want to run for a while? There doesn’t need to be any purpose in it beyond bringing him joy.

I have to let Sebastian be Sebastian.

Not a bad lesson, and more than worth the price of admission.