Today we were at a park playing and Isla was very patiently waiting her turn for the tire swing and I told her we were going to have to leave soon.
"But I haven't had a turn."
" I know but sometimes people are kinda rude and take a real long time with things and don't share. What can we do?"
She kept playing in her swing a few minutes.
"Momma, can we ask them for a turn?"
"YOU can ask them if they'll let you have a turn."
She got off her swing and went to the tire swing with two bigger girls. I could barely hear her so I told her she had to step closer and speak up.
"You've been on here a long time and I'd like to have a turn too. Can I have a turn?"
"Don't forget to say please."
"Please?"
The two older sisters said sure and got off the swing and headed to their mom and grandpa. I heard their mother thank them for sharing as Isla called out "thank you."
Isla started to swing and then stopped and said "A true princess is always thinking of new ideas."
After playing a few minutes, she commented about it being fun to play alone sometimes and fun to play with others sometimes. A little girl about her size had been playing on the swing next to us and now she was walking around. I asked Isla if she saw anyone who might like to play too and what she should do.
"Invite her to join me!"
She asked the other little girl to join us and I pushed them both on the tire swing for several minutes, listening to an interesting conversation about Disney World (both had been), Cinderella (she had a Cinderella doll but lost one of the glass slippers--the girls didn't see the irony I did), swimming suits, vacations, and other 4 year old topics. They were fast friends until Isla suddenly realized she'd spun too much and was about to get sick. We thanked our new friend and I carried Isla out of the park. The girl's mom headed her way and thanked Isla for playing and me for pushing them. A very fun park visit!
