Dayton prefers to play alone. He likes to drive his dump truck around the house at high speeds, color with markers, and play downstairs on his own. I usually initiate together playtime myself, by introducing a new activity or by jumping in and joining him at whatever he is doing (like driving his cars across the floor). My little one is a very independent child, and it never occurred to me that I had never been invited to play with him.
He has a little ballpit (shaped like a cozy coupe), which came with a bunch of different-colored plastic balls. I took him downstairs today and gathered a bunch of those balls, to show him how to throw them around the room. Our basement is unfinished - it has a cement floor and no walls, so it's the perfect playroom - lots of space and nothing to damage!
We had a lot of fun throwing the balls and chasing them across the floor. I was teaching him colors, and we were trying to hit various objects, like his swing and his basketball hoop. We were having a blast!
After a while, I stood up to go upstairs. Dayton leapt to his feet, chased after me, and grabbed my hand. He gave my hand a tug and looked up at me with his big blue eyes.
"Mom, balls."
And so I stayed, sniffling and holding back tears. I was so proud to have been invited to stay. I felt wanted, which, especially in Motherhood, is very different from feeling needed. And a very special feeling, too.
