In a surprising turn of events, we woke up to a sunny Scotland this morning. So the plan was to get outside, play & get some much needed vitamin D & fresh air! While trying to come up with some fabulous game or crafty activity to do, it came to me that we never just go out to play any more without purpose. So we grabbed some street chalks, a ball & headed out. Unfortunately, the 8 year old brother was glued to the screen & we couldn't prise him away, so it was just the two boys & 10 year old sister for the afternoon.
Bamboozled by the mysterious fiery yellow ball in the sky, the boys seemed rather surprised to be ushered out the front door without full Arctic proof gear on.
So it started with a box of sidewalk chalks (we used crayola ones we managed to get for a bargain in a local shop) & a smile...
But apparently, said smile wasn't good enough as it wasn't anatomically correct...
... but in comes 3yr old to fix it...
At this point, 15 month old is more interested in digging about & pouring them onto the path...
... but eventually joined in the fun.
I actually remembered just how much fun it was just doing normal 'kid' things that we did when we were younger. But as an adult, realised that it's more than a bit of fun as we were counting, identifying different shapes, doing the alphabet & practising writing skills, so it wasn't just like an afternoon spent goggle-eyed in front of the pc or the PS3, we were all getting something out of it.
The rest of our time outside was spent on the trampoline, playing on swings & running around so hopefully some half decent sleep is on the cards (highly unlikely).
But it wasn't all without it's drama. Between a seriously mistimed fall (Ollie falling faced down just as I kicked the ball, connecting with his head), scaring the shit out of each other screaming (bloody bees), a near miss from faceplabting downstairs (prevented thanks to my epic catching skills) & trying to see who could consume the most bacteria (prize goes to Ollie putting a used dog toy in his mouth, note that we don't actually have a dog!!!!), we still had our moments. But where's the fun without some heartache?
In amongst games of hopscotch, drawing & copying letters etc, I realised that it had been ages since we had just been 'outside' with no toys, no gadgets brought from inside into the garden & just doing something exclusively together. Today, I made a promise to myself to get outside more, even if it's regular Scottish weather & we have to go out in hurricane & downpour proof clothing to jump in puddles. We spend way too much time indoors, way too much time on technology & too little time focused just on us with nothing else to think or worry about.
Technology, toys & gadgets have taken over & it's inevitable that we're going to get sucked in & at one point or another it's probably going to bite us in the bum. Today I was bitten. Hopefully, we can start as we mean to go on because realistically it's NOT healthy to have so much screen time & it's going to affect our relationships if we're playing a PS3 game with each other instead of one on one communicating & working together at something. Technology has it's place & it's a wonderful thing but maybe it's time to step back, take a look at how often it's being used & see if we're using our time as wisely as we could be.
- M
While you were outside I was reading the article in the Guardian about using the iNanny all the time! So your piece is great timing.
ReplyDeleteThe chalks are a great idea, we used to draw trails on the pavement around our house for the others to follow, that was fun too.
When we ran out of chalk as kids, we used to grab handfuls of dirt & use that to write on the pavement. That was when kids were allowed to play in the muck & get dirty!
ReplyDelete- M x