Solomon and Nova went to a bonfire last summer, an event put on as part of a home school teen group we've been in on for the last year or so. It was lovely. Imagine tiki torches, ceviche, root beer and lemonade, sweets, a bonfire and of course--teens--about twenty of them. We've known most of these kids and their families casually for several years. Fashion ranged from T-shirts, track pants and shaggy hair to bright red mow hawks complete with full punk style. At 14 and 12 they are old enough to have fun with this group of sweet, highly individual teens, but not old enough to get there on their own.
So what to do? Impromptu Mommy time. Luckily Stillwater is a beautiful town. We missed Teddy Bear park by mere minutes. Instead we spend a lovely evening by the water, checking out the iconic lift bridge and getting a glimpse of the new highway bridge going in. Rounding out the evening with a stop at a candy store made for happy kiddos. Even better, they got to see their favorite babysitter Moira when we picked Solomon and Nova up from the party.
Will this always work? No, certainly not. We will need a varied approach. So far amusement parks and parades have been good crowd pleasers for times when everyone has needed to come along. We've done a few selective drop off events. Ballroom dancing club is about as wholesome a place we could hope to drop off our teen and tween. Carpooling will probably factor in at some point. Maybe public transit? It is an evolving situation that will take creativity and compromise. One of the joys and challenges of a 10 year spread is getting in on (nearly) all stages of parenting at once.
A cruise boat seen from underneath the current Stillwater lift bridge.
And the new bridge, under construction. Below is a view headed into town. By the time we hit main street, it was too dark for photos.
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