Turning Our Attention Outdoors

Each year when the warm weather arrives I must recalculate my daily activities to allow some time to get outdoors. This is easier to do some years than others. Last year it was quite difficult because I had the baby to deal with. I had to make sure I had a stroller or some kind of seat for her to sit in. This year the baby is walking and likes to keep up with her brothers. I'm comfortable leaving her in the care of her oldest brother for short amounts of time. Since any activity I undertake has a lag time between the time I announce doing it and the time I can actually do it, it is helpful to get all of the kids outside while I prepare to do so myself. Big brother's help is important for this. So far Samuel does not try to escape from our fenced-in yard, but I'm sure the day of him wandering off is coming. We are quite vigilant in watching him while he is outside.

My "Garden"

My garden currently consists of 6 planter pots, and will most likely grow to 8 or 9 pots this summer. Three of the planters have pansies that somehow survived the winter and a couple of petunias I picked up yesterday. I just planted basil and green beans in the remaining 3 planters. I also have peppers and another flower (Portulaca) to plant. I'll start them in seed starter peat cups and transplant them to the planter pots I'll eventually get around to buying. Since our dirt has lots of clay in it and I don't have a lot of time right now, I cannot till up enough of a gardening area in the ground, so I will stick with the planter pots for now. These are very modest attempts at gardening, but they're enough for right now. The baby and my youngest son like to help me do the watering. I am going to solicit Samuel's help with this as well. This will be a good exercise for his motor skills.

Games

Samuel's in-home helpers take him outside for a while when they are here. They work on appropriate playing, which they alternate with a few minutes of free time. A few things they do are play with his construction trucks in the dirt, draw with sidewalk chalk, play catch, and tag. Samuel's brothers often join in all the fun, especially his younger brother (who thinks the in-home helpers are here to keep HIM entertained!).

I try to take a few minutes each day to get outside with the boys myself. I'm not particularly athletic or "outdoorsy", but I'll get out and kick the soccer ball around, play badminton and track ball with my oldest son. The usual game I have with Samuel is to play catch. It is most successful if I tell him the number of tosses we have to do. We're starting with 30 this spring and I told him we have to work up to 100 by the end of the summer. I remember struggling to get 10 tosses with him a few years ago. Sometimes we play catch with a large play ball and sometimes I use the "velcro hands" in this picture.

On Thursday it was quite hot in the afternoon. The boys put on their bathing suits and played in the sprinkler and squirted each other with the hose. I'll probably get some kind of wading pool for the baby and I'm sure we'll try a slip-n-slide at some point over the summer. Those things never last too long for us.

Samuel's time outdoors alone involves a lot of self-talk and repetitive actions, like digging in dirt or sifting through dried out cut grass. Each year, however, he is playing more "appropriately" (in this case, similar to his brothers). He has a whole fleet of Tonka trucks that are excavating an area that used to hold 3 azalea bushes. (The bushes died, Samuel did not harm them) I have not listened closely, but it could be that he is playing "Bob the Builder" with them. I have caught Samuel and his younger brother playing together several times. There is some back and forth activity, but sometimes Samuel is just getting his brother to say things for him and repeat it.

Just a Few Special Touches

I tend to get so bogged down with the details of keeping my home in working order that I sometimes lose sight of an important job I have, helping my kids to have fun. It really doesn't take much to make an ordinary day a little more special for them, but it is an effort for me to take the time to do these little things. One thing I did on the spur of the moment earlier this week was to have a "campfire" for the boys before bedtime. Everyone got their pajamas on and then we sat on a blanket in the backyard around a "campfire", 4 or 5 votive and jar candles lit up. The boys thought this was great; my oldest son made a snack for us while I set it up. Tonight I made a double layer pudding dessert for them. They also enjoyed this immensely. We try to eat outside on occasion. Today would have been the perfect weather to do so, but my husband was busy in the garage and I did not want to endeavor moving everything to the table outside by myself.

The change in routine to allow for more time outside throws me off a little, but it is worth it. We need to take advantage of being outside now because once the heat of the summer arrives it is hard for us to tolerate being outdoors at all.