I have to say that it feels so good to be meeting our child's social needs. I think some background could prove helpful here to anyone reading this post, so here's my attempt to give you a little context. Christina and I have a four and a half (almost) year old daughter who could be described as a true social bug. She simply hankers for that social connection with other little beings of her kind. Don't all children, you may ask yourself? I would have to say "no, not necessarily", perhaps most, but certainly not all, or maybe not to the degree that she seems to. I am sure that there is a wide berth on individual children's actual need for companionship with other children. Multi-child households already have this issue well under wraps on the domestic front at the outset, even if said children prefer 'outside company' to supplement their domestic configuration. Those of us with single child families have to regularly orchestrate the particulars of situations that emulate what others may well wake up with naturally everyday--siblings. Yes, we know of the 'natural' biological solution to this issue, and we have decided to--Ahem!--not 'go there'. So, in light of this, we have decided to fill in by proxy, and are more than happy to put in the requisite effort, as it were. (Big smile) ...Onward...
As parents of an only child, I would say that we have tried to be fairly diligent in providing our child with as many actualized play-dates as we can reasonably arrange, but believe it or not these actually take a fair amount of effort and planning. I am a stay-at-home dad, so I have the additional weight of making sure that these little events come to fruition on a regular, routine, planned schedule of expectation. I don't have the back-up of 'daycare socialization'--no matter how crude that can sometimes be-- and my child is not in Pre-K at this time. We are planning to enroll her in a partial day program in the Fall. With other parents and their itineraries in addition to our own, there are layers of schedules that have to line-up-just-so in order for these little meetings to successfully materialize into real play time. That being laid out, we have had many false starts along our journey of parenting naiveté that have taught us many lessons. Now, we have really come to appreciate when these play-dates and play-mates are compatible and realistically, actually do work out with the resultant mutual ease, benefit and joy to all parties involved. It's a real celebration for the parents as well as the kids when all the scheduling and personality minutiae line up and flow in the same direction. It really makes me happy as a dad to see the sheer joy and pleasure that my daughter gets out of building friendships, good friendships with her peers. It gives me the warm fuzzies, which.......I am really starting to groove on. Besides, it has the added benefit of making me feel like I am doing the right thing by her, which, as a father, is at the top of my list. I know that I am a good dad, but feeling it is crucial too. Fathers need that. I need that. This kind of stuff is like Mana for my Soul, and for me, it doesn't get much better than that: those moments of the realized goodness of being able to be a dad to another human being, a good dad. To help them and care for them, without any direct knowledge on their part, so that they might be happy and helped to have a good life....... Well, that feels really good....from my bones on out.