11/52
I wish that I didn't have to be hesitant about bringing Z to parks. I wish that I didn't have to worry about the way other kids were going to react to Z, and in turn how Z would react to other kids we may encounter. There were more kids at the park this day than I expected for a Wednesday just after noon, but Z did well with making friends. He immediately started playing in the sand and water area with a girl a couple years younger than him and her little brother, and the three of them hit it off well. Z ended up playing with a lot more water than I would normally have preferred on a not terribly hot March day and his sister got drenched but frankly she didn't seem to mind at all.

When it was time for the little boy and girl to go Z asked the girl how he could get in touch with her in the future. She came to me and explained that she wanted to give him her mom's phone number, and that she wanted me to put the number in my phone for him. I asked her if her mom would be okay with her giving out her phone number and she told me that her dad would be okay with it. I laughed and said, "Your dad is okay with you giving out your mom's number? But that doesn't tell us how your mom would feel about it." She told me that she didn't know her dad's telephone number. After they left I mentioned to Z that I had saved the girl's phone number, but that I wasn't really sure what we were going to do with it. He remarked, "Yeah, I was hoping she would give me an e-mail address because that would have been easier. But she didn't even know what an e-mail is." It was a good exercise in making friends for him at least. Hopefully we'll run into the brother and sister again some time, so that Z can get to know her enough that actually using the phone number wouldn't be awkward.