Wild Bound

Image by Steve-h via Flickr

We played in the yard.

There is nothing much more to say.

Samuel got really dirt digging in the dirt.

When I asked him if he was having fun digging in the dirt, he replied, “I’m not digging.  I’m gardening.”

At least he didn’t contradict my use of the word “dirt” and tell me it is soil.  Although if he had, he would have been correct.

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In Yesterday’s post, I mentioned Samuel’s need for novel experiences as we get outside, so much of the Wild Bound project has been just getting out and walking, hiking, or bicycling around our neighborhood.  When you see the same sites over and over, it is hard to maintain curiosity, excitement, and interest.  After walking the same trails, novelty is hard to come by.  How does a parent keep a toddler interested in one more stroller ride?

Make up games.

Games are a great way to keep the same-old same-old from being boring.  They also are a great way to introduce new concepts.

Yesterday Samuel learned about shadows.  In the past 2 1/1 years of getting outside with him, I’m sure he has seen shadows, but I never stopped to explain to him what a shadow is.

While we were walking, I stopped and showed him his shadow.  We talked about the dark spot on the ground that looked kind of like him and the dark spot on the ground that looked kind of like Mama.  We talked about the shadows of the trees and how the dark spot is made because the sunlight can’t shine through a person.

As we were walking side by side, this became a game of “Catch Mama’s Shadow.”  We zig zagged back and forth across the trail.  Samuel giggled, ran, and jumped on my shadow.  When he got tired, I hoisted him up onto my shoulders.  We looked at our new shadow, it was really tall and had 2 heads!

When he got down off my shoulders, we played “catch the shadow” again.

While we played, he forgot that he had been on this path 100 times before.  We saw the world as it is, not as we already knew it to be.  Games keep the normal a novelty.

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What should I do with some perfectly good old building materials that you were ripping out?  Now say these building materials were an old concrete sidewalk that you could pull out of the ground in big chunks?

Would you:

a) toss the chunks into the dumpster.

b) use the chunks to pave your gravel (mud) driveway.

c) sidewalk?  What’s that?

If you chose (b), you would be right on target. I wish I could say that I have some morally superior reasoning for doing it this way.  I know that reusing is the “green” way.  Honestly, I’m just cheap frugal.  Well, that and I know a paved driveway probably won’t happen any other way and spring thaw is really hard on my shoes.

One thing I have noticed about getting outside with a toddler is that he likes being outside, but he also likes novelty.  Today I can dig in my driveway and lay concrete.  I can probably get by with doing it again tomorrow.  After 3 days of working on the same project, when I ask, “Do you want to go outside?”  Samuel says “NO!”  It works this way whether we are playing, working, or just hanging out.  The only exception I have found to this rule is playing with slides.  He could never get enough time playing with slides.

He is teaching me about balance.  Projects will (eventually) get finished, even if I don’t hyperfocus.

Today we work in the driveway.  Tomorrow, we play with slides.

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The people of the Kootenai tribe (pronounced KOOT’n-ee), believe that Kootenai Falls are the center of the world.  I don’t know about that, but they do make a nice destination for a Sunday afternoon drive.

After church we grabbed a picnic lunch and headed out for a drive.  Kootenai falls was our destination, and the swinging bridge over the river was our plan for great adventure.

The trailhead is located beside US 2 at milepost 21 between Troy and Libby Montana.  The hike to the swinging bridge is fairly easy and only takes about 15 minutes.  The trail is quite rocky, so you have to watch your step.

Sometimes I wonder, “Should I be worried, yet?”  The whole hike down to the swinging bridge, Samuel was climbing on ever rock he could find and then jumping off.  I know this is normal kid (especially boy) behavior.  That’s not what worries me.  What has me worried is that every time he jumped he would say, “I’m BASE jumping!  I’m BASE jumping!

BASE stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges), and Earth.  Base jumpers are those crazy people who jump off cliffs.

“Yes, honey, but don’t ever jump off of something high without a parachute.”  What else can a Mom say?

Brenton, I think it’s time to lay off the extreme sports video clips on wimp.com.  Really.

The boy wants a scooter.  He is fascinated by skateboarding and bicycling tricks.  He was fearless on the swinging bridge.  The wind was gusting, the bridge was very swing-y.  My legs were feeling a bit shaky.  Samuel was fearless.

As I write this, I’m pretty sure I can feel the color training from my hair.  This is what motherhood does to a woman.

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Friday was one of those days.  You know the kind.  The kind where when Brenton called an hour early and said he was coming home, I almost burst into tears.  A 2 year old is a formidable opponent, and I had been doing battle with mine all afternoon.

After dinner, we headed to the slides.  Brenton took Samuel and I walked around the track.  I walked, and stressed, and walked faster until I had calmed down.

I very much considered pouring my heart out to a random mother who was also walking along the track.  With 2 preschoolers on bicycles, a toddler in a jogging stroller and a baby in a snuggly, I figured she probably had enough to worry about even if she would completely understand.

So I walked on alone.  Reminding myself, “Your child is not your enemy.”  When I found that I could breath easier again, I headed towards the playground to rejoin the family.

Brenton and I sat on the swings watching Samuel playing with kids and talking.  While we were swinging, we talked about maintaining parental authority, diffusing situations, and how to avoid going into combat with a 2 year old.

It’s tough being Mama, but playgrounds make it easier.

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One of the first pieces of advice you will get when people find out you are expecting is to establish an early bedtime for the kids so you can have adult time together.  The heart behind that advice is fantastic.  Parents need to focus on their relationship to keep those ties strong.  We have found that keeping an early bedtime for Samuel is a lot easier said than done.  Even when we are very careful with the routine and get him in bed early, there is no guarantee that he won’t pop out every 5 minutes asking for a drink, to go potty, “huggles”.  We try to keep this behavior under control, but some nights it takes an hour or more to get him settled.  This gets worse when he is overly tired and completely unreasonable.

When you combine the frustration of a drawn out bed time with the frustration of a child “getting in the way” of your relationship with your spouse, you won’t be left with a relaxing evening.  One way to combat the unpredictibility of the bedtime routine is to spend time together walking.  Whether your kid is a newborn in a stroller or a preschooler tearing up the trails in his new hiking boots.

When we are outside, Samuel is entertained, Brenton and I get a break.  When we walk, we talk.  We sort things out.  We bond.

Walking is good for your heart, and walking together is good for your heart.

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Image by bored-now via Flickr

This week I’ve spent quite a bit of time weeding the flower beds.

The good news: the house looks much less like a foreclosure.

The bad news:  there’s nothing left growing in the flower beds!

Samuel has been helping me pile weeds, push his matchbox cars through the dirt, move the rocks that line the edge of the flower beds, and move my hand rake.

A blank slate in the flower beds has me dreaming of fall planting.

Oh and I found a money plant growing in my flower bed.  Too bad it isn’t real money.

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Image via Wikipedia

We need more neighbors in this world.  I don’t mean the kind of people who just happen to live next door to your house and you see the top of their heads when they walk near the privacy fence that separates your back yards.  We need more neighbors.  The kind of people you can ask to keep an eye out on your house while you are gone on vacation or who you can join for a spur of the moment game of basketball in the front driveway.

Last night we walked around town and took the opportunity to talk with some of the neighbors.  That got me to thinking about communities.  What do you think is necessary to turn a neighborhood into a community?

Two things I’ve noticed that consistently build a community are

• Front porch culture–The neighbors put their lawn chairs out front rather than hiding in the back yard behind privacy fences.  The kids play in the front yard and even if you don’t know the neighbors, your toddler will beg to play with the tonka truck in the sandbox
• Smallish houses–when people go outside to find their own space.

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