Last weekend we got in my PrincessMobile and picked up, in this order, Aida (whose infectious smile and energy belied the two sleepless nights anticipation of our outing had caused her), a 17-inch double pepperoni pizza, and a chocolate chip cookie from the place Aida signs as ⭐️💵. Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest, so we took ourselves to a city park and spread out our picnic blanket.

I haven’t kept up with King County reopening rules, and assumed that the play structures were still taped up and off-limits. But Aida was facing in that direction from our blanket on the grass, and she doesn’t operate on assumptions. “Later park swing?” she signed, with a huge grin. I swung around and saw, as she had, the children at play down the hill. In her excitement she hadn’t even taken a slice from the pizza box yet, while she waited for my reply.

Mimi and I conferred on the safety of this opportunity, and agreed on a protocol involving alcohol wipes and masks. Assuming Aida would wear the one we’d brought for her…

Later, after a nice long 20-minute swingfest, during which Aida’s mask slipped and she precariously let go of the chains to adjust it back up to cover her nose, I asked Mimi, do I underestimate your sister too often? Her Yes! was emphatic, with only a tinge of exasperation.

Isn’t it great when parenting becomes simply getting out of the way of the lovely humans you’ve raised?