Neighbourhood Kids

It's fair to say that Margot has lots of friends. She is a happy kid and always seems to find someone to play with at recess. However, oddly that doesn't seem to translate into too many after school playdates.

I think there are a couple of reasons for this. One, many parents these days (myself included) seem to put their kids in a lot more extracurricular activities than in the past. That results in less time for free play. Two, Margot doesn't have too many friends within walking distance of our house. Many are what I consider to be "driving distance" away, which makes random play much less likely. Finally, a big difference between a downtown neighbourhood like Hintonburg and surbubia is that kids just don't run wild in the street here like they do in the 'burbs'. It just 'aint done!

Fortunately there are a few exceptions to the lack of playdates. Just around the corner live the twins, E and S, who are some of Margot's besties and are always up for fun. Just a little further away lives another friend, L, who also likes to come over and hang out at our house.

It was cold enough to freeze your bones but you wouldn't know it from these monkeys!

That's what happened today. L came over and pretty much had a jolly old time. They didn't even want to watch Netflix! Instead, they played in the snow (yes, we have tons of snow and it's only November [sob]), played with Panda and then put on a puppet show for me.

It wasn't quite random (we prearranged the playdate with L's Dad) but I don't think Margot minded!