Is this really fun for you?

Today I took N and G to AAK so N could jump, run and skip to get out some of the energy she had bundled up from spending too much time in the house playing Barbies and Polly Pockets.

She had a good time, mostly...I think.

N kinda latched onto this very small 6-year-old (read small as being the same size as N) named Roxi. When N latches onto another child, it is kinda like having a preschool stalker. Anyway, N would say, "Let's go on the trampoline," but Roxi wouldn't want to so N would cross her arms, pout and go sit in the corner. I forget how many times she went into self-imposed exile, but I finally got tired of trying to coax her out.

At one point, Roxi (who had taken an gymnastics class per her mom) was jumping up to a uneven bar. Given her prior experience in a class and the fact that she is 6, she was able to do it. N, of course, couldn't. She sunk her head and said, "I wish I could do it like that girl."

Later, N said to Roxi, "Watch me do a cartwheel." Now bear in mind, N's cartwheel involves her laying down on the ground and kinda rolling on her back with her legs up in the air. Roxi said, "That's not a cartwheel." Another sad look passed N's face.

Finally, G fell asleep in the Snugli so I told N we had to go get his carseat. She came unglued because she didn't want to leave "her friend." I convinced her we would find her friend as soon as we came back. When we did return, she couldn't find Roxi and the tears poured. "I want a friend to play with," she sobbed.

Roxi's mom was trying her best to keep Roxi from being outright mean to N, but you could tell Roxi would have preferred if the little 3-year-old would have found someone else to whom to cling.

So I felt awkward because I didn't want to stop N from trying to make a friend but I also knew Roxi didn't want to have anything to do with her. It seems like if you have that many pouting episodes and crying spells over another person, you really need to find someone new. Funny that the advice I finally learned to give myself about men is reappearing with my preschooler.