Julia and I just dropped Dylan off for the last day of his park program. In a few short hours we will ride the bike trailer rig to pick him up, then on to the elementary school for our last lunch, as that program is ending as well.

As a stay at home dad, I realize the importance of socializing with other kids. He can’t just play with me all of the time. The park program has been great for the boy, exposing him to new things, new ideas, and new people. Wednesdays are show and tell, Thursdays are reserved for swimming, and there are fun things to do at the park rain or shine.

The free lunch program has been great as well. Dylan has been learning the importance of taking the top tray from the stack, even when it is pink, and how to open a carton of milk. Julia gets to try new foods and experiment with both eating and throwing them. We hang out with a variety of summer friends in the lunchroom, and some of the Headstart kids point and call me “Juggle Man” because they remember me from my show at the Moorhead library in June. I love it.

The past five weeks of structured summer mornings has also been great for Julia and I. We have had one-on-one time to read letter books, play ring around the rosie, and watch signing time videos (while Daddy cleans the kitchen and sweeps the floor). A few days we have been able to go out on two hour radventures, biking and running around town, just the two of us. Like Dylan and I used to do.

It is tempting for me to feel sadness at the end of something, but of course it is also the beginning of the next stage. The moments flow in unending sequence, each one as powerful and fraught with possibility as the last. Next week we will be coming up with our own adventures, loading up the trailer and setting out for days of unstructured fun, building on the lessons we have already learned.