Shout Out: Bounce n' Play Rocks

I was going to write this up before the previous Reality Check post. Well, here it is.

The Bounce n' Play in town is FANTASTIC! I went there with E, her little sister Vivian, and our fantastic nanny Annette. There are climbing structures, both permanent (structural) and inflatable; an art room, as well as a painting room (you can paint the walls!); a toddler room; a fish pond; and a pretty good cafe. All this makes for a great day, provided your child can maneuver around the area. Which, as long as it's not too crowded, Elena can.

After speaking with the staff--E had permission to wear her shoes. I decided to leave them off...sneakers just stick when she should be sliding. The structured climb/slide arrangement is too big for Elena--and not because she has CP. I went in there with her (tight squeeze, let me tell you) and I ended up helping a slew of kids get up and down. Both girls liked the big slides.








Bounce houses are still one of those lump-in-the-throat situations...lots of kids, standing up, giggling, while my kid is trying and failing miserably do to do the same, while hoping that she doesn't get kicked in the head or worse. I find it's better to be in a Bounce House Situation if it's not too crowded AND if it's with friends that we know well. Here it was neither. And you know what? It was still okay.

It helps that E can climb up structures in a Bounce House (with some assistance). I wasn't the only adult helping their kid around the big structures, which was comforting. And it's also nice to see our motto "everybody falls" in action, b/c all the kids fall when on the inflatables. When it was really crowded (we got there when it opened; after 90 minutes, lots of people were there) the kids were actually very nice, and very patient. What a nice surprise (and their parents weren't even there to tell them to be nice). We ended up leaving the bounce area after that time, b/c the kids were getting tired and the place was filling up. We fed the fish, and then Viv went to the toddler room and I took E to art. She even met a new friend while coloring!



The BnP is a great place to take E and Viv, provided we're there at opening time. The staff and the clientele were very accepting of our situation. That's not exactly rare in this town, but it's always reassuring to witness.