it's always more fun to join in

Lately I have been concerned about The Babe. There are many other little girls around The Babe's age that live on our block. It's one of the things I love about living here. Usually, these girls and The Babe play really well together. Games they play include:

• Carting a half-dead worm around in a doll stroller, calling it an ambulance. They even put a band-aid on the poor thing and named it Emily.
• Pretending the front porch is a boat, and when it docks they all have to run off screaming until someone yells "shark!" and they all have to run back on (screaming, of course).
• Riding on the small teeter-totter until they fall off into a puddle of giggles.

Recently, however, The Babe has been acting differently. She hangs off to the side and watches as all her friends play the fun games in which she used to be so involved. I've heard the other girls ask her to join in, but The Babe politely says "No, Thanks", and just sits in the grass watching, stands by the fence all alone, or just goes inside to play by herself. The Babe doesn't appear to be sulking about it, or upset in any way, really, but it's so heartbreaking for me to watch as this takes place. Sometimes she plays, but mostly she doesn't. *sniff* It's really sad.

My neighbor, Jeff, and I put in a big effort on this today. He spoke with his daughter to see if there is anything going on that perhaps we big people aren't aware of, and she told us what we already knew. The Babe is simply exluding herself. This morning, she was doing the same, and Jeff and I kept pushing her "Go play! They're having fun! Go join in!" She would reluctantly walk over and just watch from a closer distance. But, slowly, The Babe did start to play. She joined in, she laughed, she had fun. By the time we left for home, she had played her little heart out.

I spoke with The Babe this evening. I asked her if she had a good day. I said it was sunny today, it was 88 degrees, all your friends were out... did you have a good day? She agreed. Today was a good day! She listed off all the fun games she played. I asked her if it was more fun to play with her friends, or more fun to just watch them play... She answered "oh, it's always more fun to join in".

Gosh, I hope she remembers. It's a truth for us all to remember... it's always more fun to join in.