Kite Day

Yesterday I flew a kite for the first time in over 30 years.  I'm not sure I ever had this much fun flying a kite before.  I work in the administrative section of a children's early intervention and mental health program, serving children birth to five.  One of our programs is a child care center for children 2-5.  In this center, we have 50 percent of the population who is typically developing (meaning that they are meeting their developmental milestones) and 50 percent of the population who have documented developmental delays.  These delays range from speech and cognitive delays to physical conditions like blindness, to very involved children who have conditions like genetic disorders such as Downs Syndrome to cerebral palsy and brain damage due to high fever as infants, etc.

Once a year, the center holds a special event called Kite Day With Dad.  Dads (or their surrogates) bring a kite to school and join everyone from the center on the big school yard behind the center for an hour of flying kites with their children.  This year I was invited to assist with the event.  The children whose fathers were able to attend were so excited.  Conversely, those children who don't have a father in their life, or whose fathers could not attend because of circumstances beyond their control were a bit sad.  I made sure that every child whose dad wasn't there got a chance to fly a kite.  The kite I was flying was a Care Bears kite purchased for $1US at the Dollar Store.  But it was a great kite, with a nice long tail that unfurled behind it in the clear blue sky.

The day was perfect.  It was sunny, crystal clear and quite windy.  At the appointed time, we all went down to the school field and began the kite flying adventure.  It was amusing to see that some of the most educated dads (a research scientist at the local university particularly stood out) were seriously challenged in their kite flying skills.  But, you know, for the kids this wasn't so important.  What mattered was that dad was there spending time with them doing something that many of them hadn't done before, or hadn't done since kite day last year.

After a half hour or so, every child was attended to and I had a few minutes to fly the kite on my own.  Once I got the kite above the level of the school buildings, it caught a strong steady wind and climbed higher and higher.  I let out all of the twine that came with the kite (for a dollar, you don't get as much as you might like) and pulled the kite against the wind to keep it aloft.  Lunch time was announced and it was with some sadness that I reeled my kite in and went back inside.  It was such an exhilarating experience to be outside on a beautiful spring day, surrounded by children and their dads, immersed in the pure pleasure of flying a kite.  Now that I have discovered what a joyous experience it is, I will be waiting for the next day with "kite flying" weather.  The Care Bears kite is in the trunk of my car just itching to feel the wind on its once again.