Curse of the big kid

Thank goodness school holidays are over. The last two weeks have seen our usually serene and quiet parks tormented by older children running and screaming and scooting and doing all normal things that you would expect of school age children. This is great for them but kind of stressful for the rest of us. 

It's not just that the parks are super busy and the little ones get pushed around and miss out on their turn - it is the unforeseen influence the older children have. My daugher, like most toddlers, is a copier. She watches, she learns, she attempts. This school holidays has therefore turned out to be extremely hazardous for her. When she sees someone climb across the top of the money bars, she thinks she can do it too. When she sees someone climb on top of the tunnel which is already three metres high, she thinks she can do it too. I try really hard not to discourage but some things are just ridiculous. She has never had as many accidents as the last two weeks. Of course she is fine.  She's probably even all the better for this new found sense of adventure, but she is looking a little worse for wear with bruises and scratches from head to toe and I'm pretty sure I am looking more haggered than ever.