Wild Things

Sophie and I participated in a "Wild Things" class at the Wilderness Station at Barfield Park on Wednesday morning. I had found out about it when I signed her up for swim classes the day before. They meet once a week on Wednesday mornings and it is only $3. It is for ages 1-4 and Sophie was probably one of the youngest. They sang songs around the circle (I had to get a copy of the words b/c I have forgotten a lot of those little songs). The class was about a trillium flower and they focused on "3". The art project was fun since they already had everything cut out and ready to paste (seemed easy except I put the petals on the wrong way...oops). After that we went outside on the nature trail to look for the trillium that were blooming. 

This is when we started having problems. Sophie is going through this independent phase and doesn't want to hold my hand when we are walking. I got a "no" when I told her to hold my hand while we walked and she started trying to get away so I carried her (screaming) at the back of the group. She finally stopped so I let her walk for a little while. Then they turned around to come back and she kept going the other way. Once again, I carried her screaming for a ways and then finally put her down. Of course she turns around to go the other way immediately....so strong willed!!! We went back in the building to look at the turtles and salamanders when the class was over. A 2 1/2 year old girl was trying to see the turtle (and in my opinion didn't need Sophie to move since she was good head taller) and kind of nudged her. This turned into a little battle that Sophie won as she started boxing her out and making her move (as she squealed). We liked the class a lot and I will try to take her back again. I think it will be good for her to learn to listen in that type of setting and to play with other kids (that aren't family).