Outdoorsy Fun

Now that the weather has gotten (slightly) nicer, the boy wants to be outside as much as possible. Not that he didn't want to be outside in a few feet of snow, but half the time once he'd remember about everything he needed to wear to stay warm, he was less enthused about the idea. Now that all he needs are some rubber boots, and a coat, he's out of the door before I can even get my shoes on.

Some days, it's hard for me to make the effort to go outside and play, especially when being outside means that I'm not getting things done inside. Those are the days we play in the backyard, so I can run back and forth between doing chores and playing with him. He's quite happy to go off and do his own thing, while I empty the dishwasher or mop the floor quickly.

The other nice thing about having a backyard is our access to nature and wildlife. I don't want him to be 'afraid' or unsure of nature. So we try and look for bugs, birds, and leaves when we go outside. Right now, there seems to be no problems on that front thankfully. He's quite excited to trap bugs and examine them (before letting them go of course), and he likes to sit and watch the birds at our bird feeder. And thanks to TMBG he can tell you all about conifer trees!

If we're not in the backyard or park investigating things, we're most likely out on the street either riding in his car or on my bike. Or we're on the driveway playing hockey. He loves street hockey – his Dad and 2 of his uncles are hockey players, so he's really into it! At the moment he pretends to be a goalie, so you have to shoot at him, but he also likes to whack the ball and send me running after it. This is apparently very funny.

With all the horror stories of how more and more kids (and adults) are obese today, and spend too much time plugged into computers, game systems and tv's, it's good for us to get out and get some fresh air and get moving. As an added bonus, it keeps the boy happy, so we go outside as much as we can. It helps to tire him out, and it's good exercise for both us. And we have fun when we're out there, well except for when I'm running up and down my street looking like a bit of an idiot chasing after a wiffle ball.