A Quick Walk In and Out of the Park

Took the kids to a new park today in Alanson, and as you can see, Marta was thrilled. :) The whole park thing is making me rethink my mettle as a mom, because I talk it up to Berit all morning to get her moving, then when we get there all I want to do is leave. Maybe it'll be more interesting to me once she actually plays on her own or with a group of kids, but the whole time it's her begging me to push her on the swings (Marta despises sitting in the front pack while I do this) or watch her hang from the bars above the slides, and never actually going down the slides. Today I showed off my great parenting skills by refusing to push her on the swing after her first round of swinging and forcing her to try things like CLIMBING and BOUNCING and GOING DOWN SLIDES. She cried and I told her to suck it up. Is it wrong to tell your 2 1/2 year old to suck it up? 

So then I was desperate to leave after a half-hour, but she protested and I ended up promising her ice cream if we could just go already. It occurs to me that she's building brain cells and personal character right now that she'll use the rest of her life, so maybe I should devote more time to expanding her horizons and less time watching the clock, wishing it were bedtime. If any moms out there have clever play games their toddlers love, please pass them on. The best I've done lately is sidewalk chalk. Every day.