Go out and play!!!!

NOTE: This blog was written last year, about this time of year. Due to life distraction, it got lost in the shuffle and never got posted. So… in the spirit of the season, I thought I would post it now. Enjoy! 

We took the kiddos camping for the first time. 

My husband and I were campers before we had kids. We would plan 2 to 3 week long trips, predominantly camping, in fantastic locations like series of national parks out west of the U.S. We booked camp sites in locations where we couldn’t afford hotel rooms and cooked our own food. We slept in tents and hiked miles a day. It was wonderful. Not glamorous but a wonderful way to reconnect to life and each other.

When we had our kids, however, the camping stopped. It’s not totally irrational. Having young twins is no laughing matter. We would have cleared a campsite with our sleep issues because, man, our kids could scream. Thank goodness we have a single family home because we would have had problems in a townhouse.  Teaching my daughter to sleep independently was not a quiet process. 

Now that the kids are 4.5 years old and sleeping is not really an issue anymore, camping started to seem more reasonable. That, combined with their love of the outdoors and their physical independence, persuaded us to try a camping trip, so we collaborated with friends. We set our tent up in the backyard a few days prior, with two purposes. Primarily, we wanted to be sure it was in good shape and wasn’t missing any pieces. We purchased it about two years ago in a good sale and moment of optimism. Between then and know, it sat in the basement collecting dust. 

Insert sad sigh here. 

We also wanted the kids to see and experience the tent for the first time on their own home soil, on familiar turf. They took one look at it and squealed with delight. They called it their “castle” and decided to run around inside. And yes, it is big enough for them to run around. It’s also tall enough for an adult to stand up. Awesome! 

When we arrived at the campsite, the kids bounded out of the car and headed straight for the woods surrounding the site. They picked up sticks and ran around giggling. They dug in the dirt and searched for bugs and worms. They searched for animals in trouble (Thank you Dora and Diego…) and rescued them triumphantly. This play continued as my husband and I set up our campsite and found all the items that were necessary to put out bedding and cook that evening’s dinner. It didn’t take us too long and the kids never stopped playing long enough to notice that we were busy. They were filthy in no time and we took them down to the local lake for a swim once we were settled. 

Childhood at its finest. 

Recent research has examined and addressed the need the for free playtime, in reaction to the sheer lack of it in today’s society. Kids play more sports, take more after school classes and are significantly more scheduled than ever before. This statistic is undisputed. 

What is frequently discussed, however, is the impact of this scheduling. Some claim that the benefit of the activity outweighs the stress of the schedule. Others firmly disagree, stating that kids no longer understand the command “go play”. They need more distinct directions. Play what? Studies have shown that this lack of ability to fill free time successfully is not beneficial to brain development. While I don’t doubt the studies are probably biased, I also don’t doubt that there is a central truth to their findings. 

 Many find themselves in the gray area between the two camps. I am firmly in that gray area majority.

That said, words cannot express the happiness I felt at observing my kids “just playing” in the woods. They were so happy, so content. Not a care in the world.  

What a wonderful childhood moment.