Visit with the Easter bunny

Zakiah, Thea, Wendy (Thea's best friend), and Liam.
And, of course, the Easter Bunny.

The community center where Thea has afterschool care had an Easter program on Saturday. It was fun, mostly. The kids had a blast. They got their faces and arms painted, got tattoos and stickers, ate hot dogs and tons of chocolate; all good things.

There was also a couple of musicians who played games with parachutes. It seemed like a fun idea: parents helped hold the parachutes above the heads of the kids, who were all in the middle of it. Then they lift and lower the parachute, like you would if you were playing with your kid in bed with a blanket, while the musicians played cheerful music. Kids would run in and out of the center, run in circles, dance around. It sounds great in theory.

Here's the problem with that scenario: there were a lot of kids of varying ages in a relatively small space. The situation went from giggle-y to trample-y in short order. Thea, my sensitive little big girl, recognized pretty quickly how things could get out of control and left the group to sit with me. Liam, my adventurous and easy-going guy, stayed at the periphery of the crowd, but I saw by the expression on his face that he was unsure of what to do next. While I was hesitating, considering whether it would spoil his fun for me to pull him out, Thea took charge. She called him repeatedly, and when he couldn't hear her, she pushed her way over to him, grabbed his hand, and led him back to our table where she gave him a chocolate egg.

Later, someone was passing out balloons. Despite his efforts, Liam was in the wrong place and missed his chance to get one, a tragedy for a kid who loves balloons as much as he does. Thea saw how sincerely upset he was and gave him hers with no hesitation. I'm often struck by her kindness and empathy, two things that have been part of her personality since day one.

All in all, a good day.