In the past couple of weeks, we’ve been spending less time at the parks and more at home. As someone who was ready to stake her parenting identity on the motto”Outside Whenever Possible!” I’ve been wondering how and why this happened, and how I feel about it. A look at our day yesterday answers a few of those questions. We got up early (just after 7), but it took awhile for the kids to work their way through breakfast. They’re eating more slowly than usual, due to the colds that keep them from breathing and eating simultaneously, but they’re also hungrier than usual (a growth spurt for both of them?). Last week Sydney hit the grocery store almost daily. So, if you throw in a shower for me, a time-out for Katherine, and a load of laundry, we didn’t get out to the parks until 11am. By that time, though, both kids were slowing, so we limped, rather than raced, around the park while Katherine waffled between walking and riding and Nathaniel took out his dislike for his current cold through an unbroken stream of demands: “Want to pet swan. Want to pet duck. Want to swim. Want blackberries. I want blackberries! I want cucumber. I want apple. I want down.” We did fine, but we were all pretty tired after we finished our two-mile loop and came home. So much for a long, luxurious walk with snacks, as I’d imagined. We had a lengthy supper after the kids’ nap, as they worked their way through three bowls of pumpkin rice pudding. And then neither one showed any interest in going outside. They preferred to play quietly, both together and apart, with cars and balls on the ground floor of the house. Katherine then got her first try at real “help” in the kitchen, as she poured and measured most of the ingredients for biscuits. We also read books all throughout the day, mostly in bits and pieces as time and attention allowed. Given that the current weather is distinctly fall-like (rainy, windy, and cool), and it’s fully dark by 7pm, I’m wondering if kids instinctively kick into hibernation for the winter. If these habits outlast the current colds (their third in the past month), I’m going to start thinking my children are like bear cubs. Sleeping through winter doesn’t sound so bad, come to think of it.
Erin
Alan Schmierer