Yesterday, my family and I had the opportunity to spend time with some homeschool peeps at a park for a bit in celebration of the mysterious and undefined week between Christmas and New Years. I was excited to go, but admit my expectations were not all that high…I don’t get to spend a lot of time with our fellow homeschool families so I don’t know most families really well and there aren’t usually a lot of dads there for me to hang with. But, I showed up and was ready to enjoy a unseasonably warm Friday afternoon just like everyone else.

Families began showing up and as expected, many kids automatically gravitated toward the swing set that was situated in front of me…a foregone conclusion, right? And also as expected, there were littles who couldn’t quite get the whole swing thing down and mediums that would much rather be pushed than do it themselves. I surveyed my surroundings, noticing that my wife and the other moms had wondered off into pockets of laughter and animated hand motions and that my kids had all bailed on me, running off to explore the creek with their friends.

And so there I was…

Me and like 5 kids…in the sunshine…at the park…around a swing set. Gulp…

They seemed keenly aware that I was isolated among the vast maternal landscape and I could feel their collective gaze slowly fixate on me as I stood there like a middle schooler at his first dance. My eyes shifted from left to right, panning for some adult social encounter as a point of egress, because I knew once the swinging bubble burst, there was no going back. But alas, I found no home. I didn’t make eye contact with them, pondering what to do next. All of the sudden, emerging from the sea of typical playground chatter, a little girl broke the proverbial silence and said the unthinkable…

”SWING ME, PLEASE!”

There was a gasp among the other children as they looked at each other and using her plea as a springboard, many little voices now took place of the one. I looked around to be sure, but no, they were indeed talking to me. There was no escape.

I relented and took my position behind the row of like 5 swings and began pushing the now grateful little occupants, praying they would hold on tight and that my wife knew their mothers. Pushing from the back or grabbing ankles from the front, my efforts were immediately rewarded with cackling screams and larger-than life eyes combined with blowing, messy hair and ear-to-ear smiles. Melted my heart to see how much joy something as simple as swinging brought to these littles and mediums. From that point, the task of swinging kids took on a life of its own until it was as though we were feeding off each other. Their growing silliness begat more of my own and soon, we were all having a tremendous time together even as the cloud of dirt surrounded us, sand tinged against my face and arms and my shirt became dusted with errant little shoe and foot prints.

I stayed with this unknown number of different children there at the swing set almost the entire time and when it was over, I left the park recharged and ready for more…I was just getting warmed up!

Reminded me that sometimes, we as adults are so used to adulting, we fail to remember the sheer fun of being a kid. Yep, that was me. Not only that, but we also forget that littles, mediums and even bigs are longing for us to set aside our own big-person world just to take a few minutes in their own. Yep, that was me too.

Don’t forget that Jesus Himself made a point of spending time with children even when His disciples were trying to make them go away. Take a look at Mark 10:13-16 and BE LIKE JESUS…bless the junior humans around you with your time, your affection and your words! There are only two days left before the chaos of a new year kicks off all over again…get out there and bring a smile to a kid’s face while you can!!

Happy Almost New Year!

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