Friendship at the Gate

Our backyard has various shrubs all along the back fence except in one corner of the yard. In that corner, there is a gate in the fence. It must have been used as a friendly neighbor gate at some point in the past, but now it is locked. We moved into this house in the fall, and we had a newborn. We didn't get much chance to let Eleanor go out back and play before it got too cold, and we never met our neighbors who live behind us. Come spring, Eleanor got to do much more playing outside. We soon discovered that the neighbors behind us have three kids of their own, two of them close to Eleanor's age. Eleanor and Ian, between whom there is only a few months' age difference, quickly became good friends.

His mom and I have been trying to arrange a play date, but it hasn't happened so far. So, they play the best they can at the gate, passing toys between the poles to each other and sharing snacks. Anytime they are outside at the same time, one of them is at the gate, calling to the other (if they aren't there together already). Eleanor is so cute; she'll drop what she's doing and say, "I think I hear Ian calling me. I have to go."

Even when we were doing something exciting: releasing goldfish into our pond, Eleanor dropped what she was doing, saying, “I have to go. I hear Ian calling me. I’ll be right back.” There have been a few times when she has told him, “I’m busy right now,” or “I’m not coming,” but those are pretty rare.

Sharing shovels.

They have never seen each other without a fence in between them. Hopefully, it won't kill the magic when they do :)