Today I went to the pacific view mall with two of my 3 kiddos.

I homeschool my son with special needs who is a 6th grader and also my youngest who just stared kindergarten. We go to the mall to socialize a little bit as home schooling can feel isolating at times. I dropped my son off with his tutor Tom at a place called “game world “ ran by a wonderful and compassionate guy named Mike. My daughter and I did a little shopping then walked over to the indoor play area over looking the Pacific Ocean. It was a little warm upstairs in the mall but everyone was smiling or laughing when we came in.

There was a man and his son playing a fun game, where the father was pretending to catch the son like he was fishing. He then proceeded to ask my shy 5 year old if she could help turn on the “grill” … she warmed up right away to his playful smile and proceeded to press a button on a large beetle play structure. The man’s name is Adrian and he had a wonderful way with kids. My daughter played with him and his son for quite a while .

This was a breathe of fresh air for me. Often I come to this play place and every parent I see is scrolling on the phone. This young couple were absolutely engaged and playing imaginatively with this well loved little guy. They also had a two week old infant with them and manage to take the time to balance there energy with it all.

Right before we had to go pick up my son from game world Adrian asked us if we wanted to share a pizza for lunch with them! Such kind people! His wife Julia and I exchanged numbers per my daughter request to have a play date again soon. It was an amazing time filled with smiles and an ocean view.