Busted Lip

Today Jonah and I stayed at the Acorn playground, because it was easier, because it was cold (and that playground retains more heat. Jonah likes going down the slide head first. But that is against the rules at Acorn. So Noah was forcing him to obey those rules (or trying.) Basically Jonah went down the slide many times head first. Or what you may call head first. He actually went down hands first. Finally Noah decided to go head to head with him by coming up the slide and striking him. Now Jonah needed to block and some how in the process managed to get his hands underneath his body and went onto the floor face first.

Pau paus and teachers freaked out and scolded me, because he was now bleeding. I was not as concerned to tell the truth. Maybe teachers are inherently more afraid of such a thing because of legal reasons. And I got an earful about why I shouldn't let him go down the slide head first.
But the truth is there are slide you can do head first and slides you can't. And he has gone down that and many other slides head first since before he could walk, without incident. So to me it is not the fact that he was going down head first, but Noah's interference.

Now of course, if I was a teacher, I would tell all the children that they are not allowed to go down headfirst. In fact, as a teacher I had a lot of rules that kids hated. Walk in a straight line, stand still over here. I would even drill them at going up and down stairs safely until they could do it.

And my kid (Jonah) was in the mix with other kids that I was not watching. And I wouldn't allow Noah to do head first, nor would I allow him to do something else I would normally let him do that the school doesn't like. But Jonah is not really reasonable like this yet. And one way to learn or find out, why there is a rule for going down a slide feet first, is to get a busted lip. Though I'm sure he will continue to do the slide head first and I won't discourage him.


Similarly, going up the slide is always fun. And when he is by himself, I let him do it. But when there is a lot of kids around, or especially a school at the playground, I don't let him do it. Even if there are other kids doing it. Because it ruins the whole function of a slide. But when you have the playground to yourself, a slide can function in more than one way. And it's good to know there are different cultures to different playgrounds, and even different rules for different times at the playground.

Anuway, Jonah was embarrassed by his bleeding, so we went from that playground to the Tot lot, where he actually fell again on a children's bench. Usually such clumsiness means he is tired, or weak, or sick. And mommy did say that he didn't sleep well because of the heat (which has turned into cold). But we stayed there for a little bit and he is moping around saying he is tired now, but at the same time he won't go to sleep.

I think he is beginning to go to the phase where he doesn't necessarily have to nap. Or I should say, is able to stay awake even though he should nap. Yesterday even the stroller method did not put him out and he didn;t pass out until 3pm. (That could be another reason why he didn't sleep well. Well we'll see what the afternoon brings.