My daughter and I went to the children’s museum yesterday. It was one of a series of outings that have just been my daughter and me. Six months ago she was bored with my company, now she seems to crave it. I am flattered.
I believe it is partly because she doesn’t have to be ‘on’ when she’s with me. She doesn’t have to rise to the occasion as she would when other children are around. And she seems to like my undivided attention. It gives her the opportunity to pepper me with questions. These questions always leave me pondering whether I learned anything in college, let alone high school.
We took the entire afternoon to visit the children’s museum. We took the subway, and we didn’t rush. We wondered what was in the water of Fort Channel. We explored the various subway entrances at South Station. We stopped to look at dandelions growing between the cement on Boston sidewalks, and when we got to the museum I went with her to any exhibit she wanted to visit and stayed as little or as long as she liked.
The afternoon left both of us pleasantly tired but not overstimulated. I realized my daughter is becoming more of a companion and less of a responsibility.