All morning I was wondering, "What am I doing wrong?! My kids are so mean and cranky!" I was actually trying really hard to not be mean and cranky myself, so you can understand my confusion. Well, after nap time I loaded us all up and walked to our favorite park.
Ah, heaven.
Fresh air, sunshine, exertion, other kids, other moms, etc. The length and severity of the winter is definitely the hardest part of living up here. It can be so isolating. But once the sun finally shows his face--wonderful! Our summers are so beautiful and mild, and since everyone has an extreme case of cabin fever we all live outdoors in the warmth.
So, perseverance is the lesson of the day. We love living here and we love the cold, snowy winters; but by March one must persevere in order to maintain sanity until May...okay, the end of May. Persevere! I can do this! Persevere!
These two pics are from our "First Walk of the Spring" about a month ago. Once a month until May we can get outside. ;)
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I've been reading a lot about the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education and about half of the "curriculum" calls for children to be outdoors. There is a much more eloquent way to describe it, but basically this time is for them to be in touch with nature-God's most inspiring work of art-and their own curiosity, identity, intellect, etc. But another very critical benefit of this time is how free children are outside. They can be supervised from a distance, and (as long as I don't freak out) they can explore all kinds of amazing things. Their boundaries are wide open compared to the tight nature of indoor behavior. They can yell, run, roll. But I think they also have a freedom within themselves from perpetually pushing against their boundaries the way they do indoors. Needless to say, I'm very excited about Summer's approach!
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I've been reading a lot about the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education and about half of the "curriculum" calls for children to be outdoors. There is a much more eloquent way to describe it, but basically this time is for them to be in touch with nature-God's most inspiring work of art-and their own curiosity, identity, intellect, etc. But another very critical benefit of this time is how free children are outside. They can be supervised from a distance, and (as long as I don't freak out) they can explore all kinds of amazing things. Their boundaries are wide open compared to the tight nature of indoor behavior. They can yell, run, roll. But I think they also have a freedom within themselves from perpetually pushing against their boundaries the way they do indoors. Needless to say, I'm very excited about Summer's approach!
Ugh I feel for you about the post on flying home. I cannot imagine but I'm grateful you survived! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it is warming up there for you guys. I know what a big deal it is to be able to get outside. :)
Not to mention the sunshine helps their little bodies absorb all that Vitamin D and give them strong bones so they won't get the osteo!!!
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