By Laura Behrens
9:48 AM. We are through breakfast and I told the kids to go outside and play. It wasn’t raining and it was warming up.
10:08 AM. The kids haven’t moved. I overhear their conversation… child #2, “I can’t believe Mom wants us to go outside!” Child #3 “I know!! It’s only 51 zero degrees out.” Apparently this home-school Mom needs to work on degrees. They need to understand the circle is degrees, not zero.
10:27 AM. They still have not moved. I announce again… with more vigor…. “GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY”.
10: 49 AM. STILL. NOT. MOVING.
11:02 AM. Time to have “the talk” with my kids.
11:15 AM. I have gathered the natives around the fire….place. I begin “the talk”. When I was little we didn’t have screen time, because we didn’t have screens!!! We didn’t have tablets. They weren’t invented yet! (Mouths drop). Our “cell phones” came in a bag…. with a cord…. Our “home” phones had 6′ cords. You could not walk outside and talk. (All looking at each other thoroughly confused). We played OUTSIDE… ALL DAY!! We played in the mud and made mud pies. Made up our own games. Played tag and hide and go seek. Red-light, green-light, red-rover, jumped rope, and at night we played ghosts in the graveyard!! Wait… where did they go???
11:40 AM. Gathered the children back up by the fire….place. I continued my “talk”. We skated-boarded places! If you had a pair of roller blades, you were cool! We rode our bikes EVERYWHERE!! YOU, need to learn to play better outside. When you were little that is all you did. Now, you just want to be inside!! What happened?? Child #3 “well, it’s gross outside. There are bugs, mud, trees that tickle ( Not real sure what that means or if I want to), and things that mess up my hair and clothes!” Child #2 “you always tell us not to mess up our hair”. Child #1, with her ever thoughtful input “yea”!
12:56 PM. Lunch is over. I will make it my mission in life to get these children outside again.
1:18 PM. THAT’S IT!! ALL OF YOU, GET PLAY CLOTHES ON AND GO OUTSIDE. IF YOU ARE NOT OUTSIDE IN 5 MIN, YOU ARE GROUNDED. (I know that seems counter-productive to ground if I want them outside… but threats usually work…I got this parenting thing down).
1:24 PM. One minute late, they are outside.
2:30 PM. Still outside. I decide to shower.
3:30 PM. STILL OUTSIDE
4:18 PM. Door opens… Child #3 “this was the best day of my life”!!! Literally covered from head to toe in mud. I couldn’t be more proud of the HUGE messes that I am looking at right now.
5:25 PM. Make them a hearty dinner, after all, getting muddy is hard work.
6:49 PM. Child #4, who’s new wardrobe is just underwear…. no…. seriously…. 5 days on Hanes Boxer Briefs is starting to sear in my brain…. announces that he has decided that everyone is going to have a sleepover in his room. “Everyone… grab blankets and pillows, you are going to sleep in my room tonight for a sleepover. Moms will provide snacks. I’m picking the movie, so no whining”. All the girls literally cheer! How can we say no to that!
7:15 PM. Everyone is tucked in with popcorn, apple juice and fruit snacks.
Good night all!!
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