Swing Politics

Ryan asks me to push him on the swing. He goes outside while I get my shoes. Masha sits down in the gravel in front of Ryan’s swing. He criticizes her, “She follows me around all the time because she loves me so much.” I ask him, “What’s wrong with that?” Ryan resists when I ask him to move over to the other swing, but switches soon enough. I push him a bit and Masha climbs onto the free one. I give Masha a couple of cautious pushes, she’s small and I don’t want her to fall. Nate comes over and says he wants to use one of the swings, so I ask Masha if she wants to get into the baby swing. I’m not sure how much she understands me, though her one year old English is definitely better than my Russian. She just sits contentedly. And she doesn’t complain when I lift her out of the big kid swing and set her into the more secure baby swing. But now Nate wants to sit in the baby swing – I point out that Masha is the smallest. I offer him the swing that Masha has just vacated. But he takes up a position a few yards away in the gravel, whining occasionally. I give Ryan a push and then give Masha a push on alternating swing-backs.

Published
Categorized as Before