After finishing the shopping and having a little bit of lunch we ventured off to the children's play area. I parked the pram next to all the other prams and we sat down. I put Ella on the ground as I sat on the chair and she clung to my leg for a good fifteen minutes while she looked at all the other children playing. I could tell by the tiny grin on her face that she wanted to join in the fun but she just wasn't quite game enough to let go of me. I didn't want to push her. And so we sat for quite some time, just watching until finally she started inching a few steps farther from me and lessening her grip on my leg.
And then off she went...
She proudly marched over to an activity where no other children were playing, looking over her shoulder back at me a couple of times just for a little bit of reassurance. Bigger children were running around the play area chasing each other in amongst all the babies but I resisted the urge to go over and move her and tell the children to be careful of the little ones. I sat back and kept watching as Ella played happily.
Another small child came up to her. I'm sure it was older than Ella (I say 'it' because I couldn't actually tell if it was a little boy or girl), but was smaller in size. I was interested to see how she would interact with the other child. She looked them up and down and gently touched the other baby's hand as if to say hello and then continued playing.
The other child put its hand up and pushed Ella in the chest. Ella looked and didn't quite know what to make of it. Then they pushed her in the chest again, harder this time. She still looked puzzled. Then one final shove which sent her to her bottom followed by a swift slap across the face. Ella turned to look for me and when she met my face she burst into tears. I scooped her off the ground, she was almost inconsolable. The overprotective mama in me kicked in and I felt so angry at the other baby. Completely irrational I know since the child was only around one and didn't intentionally hurt her but still, my blood was boiling. It's amazing the emotions that you feel for your little one when you become a mother.
The baby bully had wondered off to go and play or harass someone else. I have no idea where their parent was but if Ella had done this to somebody else's child (and there will be a time when she does!) I would go over and apologise!
Back to the seat we went and I cuddled her until the tears stopped rolling down her face. Eventually she calmed down and she looked on again at all the children playing. I put her back on the ground and again she stood there and clutched my leg, mustering the courage to go off for a second time without me. We sat there for quite some time and she eventually did go off and play again and had lots of fun. I could hear her squealing as she played.
From that point there was no stopping her. She ran from here to there playing with different games and activities and watched the other bigger children play too. I really enjoyed sitting there watching her explore on her own. My little TODDLER. She's not really a baby any more.
After a good ten minutes she came racing back to me with a huge smile on her face.
An elderly gentleman was sitting next to me. We had made small talk together. When Ella came over to me he exclaimed "this one's been overfed! Looks like she eats everything in sight!"
And with that, it was time for this overprotective mama to leave the playground... Who says that?!
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