Sunday, May 18, 2008

The Pack and other wild things

We have had really nice weather the last few days. It has been great to be outside with the MK's and the dogs. We seen to have a roaming pack of 11-14 year old boys in the area now. They gather in the park behind our house (if not for the fence this park would be in our yard). This pack is kind of destructive. The other day one boy took his baseball bat and beat the bark off of one of the trees. They have also broken out a plexi panel be the top of the slide and just yesterday broke one of the swings. I know a few names but I can never pin down which one is which. They know when I am watching. I have taken to sitting on the porch with my cell phone.
The pack is pretty nice to my kids when I am watching. I am afraid it will get worse as the summer goes on.

Add to the pack the rest of the kids in the area. The park is always full on the weekends. Family's like to picnic there. Friday afternoon I let the kids go to the park. There were a bunch of kids there and some grown ups setting up food. Well as I sat on the porch with the dogs I saw one boy (maybe 9-10) shove MB to the ground. It was dinner time so I called the kids home. MB fell on the steps and scraped his elbow pretty good. Turns out MG knows this boys sister. I am going to keep an eye out for him too. MB was good about his scrape. I remember worse when I was a kid. All of these things make me a little sad. When I was a kid my Mom could let us go a block away to the park and not worry too much. All the Moms knew each other and everyone was watching out. Now I can't let my kids go to the park right in my own back yard. Never fear I can get over that fence pretty fast. (yes I have done it). It is harder to climb back over from the park side due to the hill.

I have a feeling I am going to be doing a lot of park knitting this summer.

Speaking of summer: MG is out of school after this week. I can not believe how fast the winter has flown by. Now I am off to enjoy another sunny day.

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