PARENT FORWARD

Friday, September 7, 2012

Go Out and Play

Robert Piles Oak Leaves


So, the summer days are waning, don't freak out, there is still a lot of beautiful weather left to enjoy.

Actually, if you were to ask me I would tell you that every day has it's own beauty, and getting outside is what we were meant to do as human beings.

Ever notice how much better you feel once you've had a little sunshine and some fresh air?
Well it's the same for our kids. I know, I know, it's getting off the couch and putting on a pair of sneakers, but it's worth the extra effort, I promise.

Getting outside with your child on a daily basis is something positive and cheap you can do for all of you. (You walk your dog, don't you?) Kids, like animals love being outside as well, and there is nothing like an open space to lift the mood and maybe even bring on a better appetite and a nice rest afterwards.

What parent doesn't like a little down time after some playtime?

A recent study tells us that children who play in natural settings are less apt to have challenges with ADD or ADHD, develop keener abilities to see long distance, and do better in school. They needed a study to tell us something parents have known for generations?

Breathe, it's late summer and it is wonderful. Honest, a little birdie told me, so get going! Your child will thank you and you'll thank yourself for pulling on your sneakers after all. Have fun, relax and let your child lead the way, see where it all takes you.

Cheers to the earth's many treasures, and the wind's lovely air, and the sun's warmth of Vitamin D.  It's free, now go!

Good Luck!! Good Parenting!!

Bon :)

Son-in-law, Doug and Robert

Son-in-law, Doug and  Robert
Reading, Writing, Arithmetic

Daughter-in-law, Mich,Steve,& Collin

Daughter-in-law, Mich,Steve,& Collin
Family Hike

Mom and Daughter Nat

Mom and Daughter Nat
Mom and Future Mom

Jillian and Sean w/ Molly

Jillian and Sean w/ Molly
Group Hug

Excerpt from Growing Up Crazy by Bonnie J.Toomey

Freeze Pops



Winter 1972







There’s ice on my bedroom window in little cornered crescents. It’s still dark out, but it is time to get up for school anyway which I happen to like a lot.



I wriggle out of my pajamas and pull on a hand me down sweater and jeans from my aunt who works as a nurse in Boston. She was always giving us bags of clothes which I would pull apart and alter to fit my style and size. This gave my wardrobe an eccentric and eclectic look all its own which I thought was quite individual and even artsy.



I hated to leave the warmth under the pile of blankets and old coats I had layered on for extra insulation at night. It could get pretty cold upstairs this time of year, and the transition from clothes to no clothes to clothes again was a little unpleasant in the wintertime. There’s never been heat up here, Dad didn’t put it in, but instead cut a hole in the floor the size of a wood stove chimney pipe to let whatever heat rise up from our wood stove down in the kitchen.



“Heat rises,” was how Dad explained it to us. I kept thinking, well maybe it does, but I sure can’t feel it up here.



It is colder than usual this morning. My fingers don’t work as quickly as I want them to. I head downstairs where mom and dad are hunkered under some blankets on the couch which they must have dragged in front of the fireplace during the night. They’re still sleeping. Dad’s head at one end of the couch and mom curled up at the other end.



I grab my bag and step outside into the ice cold morning and my nostrils form tiny icy needles on the first breath in sticking together like metallic glue. Luckily, the bus arrives in less than a minute but long enough to finish turning my toes in my sneakers into ten freeze pops.



I slide in next to Claire careful not to break off any digits.



“Vaugn, you look really cold,” she says, very concerned. The newscaster on the bus radio says that it’s five degrees this morning over central New England, and that it warmed up from the overnight low of zero.



I explain that I think our furnace broke again and she offers me her mittens with the fancy rabbit fur cuffs.



“Thanks, Claire,” I say, and between her offering and the noisy over head heater blowing puffs of warmth into the air, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.



Excerpt from Leaf Landing by Bonnie J. Toomey

French Lesson







French is not the easiest class to miss.



I missed almost two weeks straight



after Mom died



and a lot of other days before that



and now I am really behind.



Mom wanted me to take French



because she thought it would help



in ballet class.



Dad lost a couple of bids.



He says people are losing



their jobs,



the economy is bad



The TV keeps warning



unemployment is up,



gas prices are up



and people are fed up.



I don’t know why Dad



has to watch



it only makes him



yell at the TV



Dad says we need to conserve more than we have been



now the house feels cooler.



When I complain,



Dad says



to go outside and come back in ,



then I’ll feel warmer.



Harriet and I spend our time bundled in



an extra layer of clothes



or dragging an afghan around



like giant moths in cocoons.



We are out of butter again.



Dad says



to try using peanut butter.



Well, isn’t the word,



butter,



in it?



Harriett won’t eat her toast



and it just sits on the plate



getting cold



like the floors



in this house



and suddenly the one phrase



in French,



“It is cold.” comes back to me:



“Il fait froid,



la maison est fait froide."