Wednesday, July 14, 2010: Klever Kiddie Klubs

The following words just left my mouth: "No, no, no, no! Oh, wait. I thought you were eating poo. I'm sorry, Honey." This was not directed at my son or my wife, thankfully. It was directed at my dog who, upon climbing the deck steps on his way back into the house from his evening potty break, was very voraciously chewing on something. It turns out the object in question was an unshelled peanut, no doubt being saved for later by a neighborhood squirrel who will be all kinds of pissed off when he or she comes looking for it tomorrow. But you can imagine how an unshelled peanut dropping out of a dog's mouth at night lit only by the porch light could look like a rather unseemly bed time snack. And I am all too aware of Henri's fondness for cat poo that ends up in our yard because cats are animals people don't deem deserving of living in houses most of the time. I once had to actually floss Henri's teeth with dental floss, so crammed in was the cat filth. Just brushing his teeth didn't cut it.

I know, I know. What does this have to do with your son? "Save this for your dog blog," you're thinking. Well for one, I don't have a dog blog, and for two Stacy and I actually had a conversation about Gavin eating poo today. To be honest I can't remember how we got on such a topic. Probably I said something inappropriate. In any case, Stacy thought that it was unlikely that Gavin would eat poo because it smells bad and is clearly not for snacking, but I disagreed saying that a baby's sense of smell was toast when faced with a baby's curiosity and, if left unattended, a baby would eat poo or at least try it. In this scenario, by the way, said baby would be left unattended and his parents would be morons. So obviously this is not a theory we ever want to intentionally test.

Anyway, moving away from poo. But never far enough since I do, after all, have a child who is days away from being a one-year-old.

Today we took Gavin to Wobbler Wednesdays at Kiddie Klub (which Stacy initially told me was called Klever Kiddie Klub. Because "KKK" ha ha ha). One of Stacy's co-workers had told her about it. Wobbler Wednesdays just means that kids under two get in for $5 rather than the usual $7. Gavin definitely got more than our five bucks out of it (so much better than the $24 it cost us to go to the Troy Aquatic Center for him to play for a half hour). He had so much fun. The place is basically a big indoor play center with toys galore and a giant climbing structure with slides and stuff. When we first walked into the place his eyes got all saucered as he took it all in. Gavin's favorite thing was to push the kiddie-sized shopping carts and other push toys around. The majority of the place is carpeted but in the middle there's a pathway of tile floor that Gavin took to with lightening speed. He's still too young to be really interacting with other kids so he mostly played by himself and with his moms. But he loved watching the other kids. And occasionally trying to take away their toys, which is still one of his prime modes of interaction. It's not that he's taking stuff to be mean or to instigate, it's just that the toy someone else is playing with is always more interesting. Kids are like dogs in this way. I also think it's a way for him to initiate interaction with kids, he just doesn't realize yet that toy-snatching is frowned upon by most of toddler society.

On Monday we took Gavin to the Detroit Science Center to play in Kids Town. He loved that, too. And again he interacted with other kids primarily by wanting whatever they were playing with. I don't think that most folks think of the Detroit Science Center as something really little kids can enjoy, but Kids Town is actually pretty awesome (though they do need to restock the play pretend food in the kiddie cafe because it has been very heavily, uh, consumed. Gavin really digs being someplace where hardly anything is off limits. And we dig that, too. There's a water table in the center of Kids Town that Gavin probably would have loved playing with but he got tired out playing in all of the other rooms before we got to that. So next time we'll bring him in a wetsuit. We also really want to check out the Detroit Children's Museum. I have never been there before and am not really sure what
is on display at such a museum. I can't help but think of that Twilight Zone episode where the little girl sends her mom and dad to the Children's Zoo and then picks new parents out from among the captives. I really hope the Detroit Children's Museum isn't like that. I don't think I'd fare well locked behind glass where everything I do is on public display. I have a hard enough time peeing in public restrooms. Plus it would be so sad to not be Gavin's mom anymore.

In any case, both Kids Town and Kiddie Klub definitely get the Mama D Seal of Approval. Although on the way home Stacy remarked, "Isn't it sad that just a generation ago parents felt safe enough to send their kids to play on the playground but now we pay to let our kids play inside somewhere?" Yes. That is sad. Though of course we would never send a one-year-old off to play by himself anywhere, indoors or out. If it was a nice day, meaning not 90 degrees, then I would have loved to take Gavin to a park. But on sweltering hot summer days and the crummy winter days in the not-so-distant future Kiddie Klub rules.