The Outback
We’ve been spending a lot of time outside recently. It’s amazing how much spare time I can find after settling into a routine. That, and the 15 hours a day of functional sunlight we’re currently experiencing help me figure out a way to squeeze in a little outdoor time.
We have two choices for slipping outside: We can go to the park several feet outside our front door, or the backyard. The park is nice with lots of playground equipment including swings, slides, and goodies that Abbie pulls out of unattended strollers. The drawback to the park is that we have to make it a grand outing to make it to the park, putting on Abbie’s shoes, packing the twins into the stroller, and fighting with Abbie to keep her moving in the proper direction as I push the stroller instead of darting off in random directions in hopes of finally catching one of those birds that finally landed.
The backyard is less formal. Abbie doesn’t need shoes or socks, the twins don’t need the stroller, and I don’t need to go outside to watch Abbie roam the yard. Our backyard is shared among about a dozen apartments. This provides a huge fenced in yard of I’d estimate 50x500 feet. It even has things to entertain her like toys left by neighbor children, the neighbor’s trampoline, back steps in varying heights and degrees of disarray. It also has our dog (and a few neighbor dogs) to entertain her. Our dog loves being outside with us, if for no other reason than she actually has room to run away when Abbie approaches with that maniacal laugh that means something is about to be pulled.
I took Abbie outside all the time during her first two summers. Two years ago, that meant carrying her around during her fussy time* to calm her by letting her look at trees.** Last year, that meant letting her stumble about the backyard and chewing on various objects she’d find.
I’d been reluctant to let the kids outside so far this year, though. That was partially because the ground just finished thawing, but a lot of that had to do with the neighbor’s dogs that recently moved away. They were super nice and friendly dogs, but they were also like 80-pound bags of hammers with four legs in that they’d beat the snot out of you without realizing they were doing it if they got near you, and they were hard to handle and move if necessary. The bags of hammers would probably listen better, though, and they would undoubtedly be smarter. When I only had to watch Abbie, I could handle them, keeping them away from her, picking up Abbie when they knocked her down, pulling them off her when they rolled onto her while asking for a tummy rub. With three children to watch, I couldn’t possibly keep all three safe, and the dogs could seriously hurt one of the boys by stepping or rolling on one of their 15-pound frames. Plus there’s the dog doo factor.
With those dogs gone, I can take everyone outside without fear. There are still other dogs, but they’re much smaller and calmer. When we have a few spare minutes, I call Abbie, open the door, watch her and the dog race each other to run outside first, and bring the twins outside. I still insist on carrying the twins one at a time whenever possible due to a fear of dropping someone, so I carry one guy outside, leave him on the grass in the shade, and go back inside to grab his brother.
Abbie spends her time running around the yard. Sometimes she’ll go where I can’t see or hear her, but that’s okay because our dog is watching her. Meanwhile, I sit in the shade while the boys lie at my side doing whatever it is babies do outside. They don’t seem to enjoy the outdoors as much as Abbie did at that age, but that may be because they on get held half as much as she did. That means they can only watch trees from a distance.
* Her “fussy time” back then was also known as her “wake time.”
** Seriously. She could be a screaming mess of a meltdown, but as soon as she saw a tree up-close and swaying in the breeze she calmed down so fast you’d swear we slipped her an illicit substance that just kicked in.
We have two choices for slipping outside: We can go to the park several feet outside our front door, or the backyard. The park is nice with lots of playground equipment including swings, slides, and goodies that Abbie pulls out of unattended strollers. The drawback to the park is that we have to make it a grand outing to make it to the park, putting on Abbie’s shoes, packing the twins into the stroller, and fighting with Abbie to keep her moving in the proper direction as I push the stroller instead of darting off in random directions in hopes of finally catching one of those birds that finally landed.
The backyard is less formal. Abbie doesn’t need shoes or socks, the twins don’t need the stroller, and I don’t need to go outside to watch Abbie roam the yard. Our backyard is shared among about a dozen apartments. This provides a huge fenced in yard of I’d estimate 50x500 feet. It even has things to entertain her like toys left by neighbor children, the neighbor’s trampoline, back steps in varying heights and degrees of disarray. It also has our dog (and a few neighbor dogs) to entertain her. Our dog loves being outside with us, if for no other reason than she actually has room to run away when Abbie approaches with that maniacal laugh that means something is about to be pulled.
I took Abbie outside all the time during her first two summers. Two years ago, that meant carrying her around during her fussy time* to calm her by letting her look at trees.** Last year, that meant letting her stumble about the backyard and chewing on various objects she’d find.
I’d been reluctant to let the kids outside so far this year, though. That was partially because the ground just finished thawing, but a lot of that had to do with the neighbor’s dogs that recently moved away. They were super nice and friendly dogs, but they were also like 80-pound bags of hammers with four legs in that they’d beat the snot out of you without realizing they were doing it if they got near you, and they were hard to handle and move if necessary. The bags of hammers would probably listen better, though, and they would undoubtedly be smarter. When I only had to watch Abbie, I could handle them, keeping them away from her, picking up Abbie when they knocked her down, pulling them off her when they rolled onto her while asking for a tummy rub. With three children to watch, I couldn’t possibly keep all three safe, and the dogs could seriously hurt one of the boys by stepping or rolling on one of their 15-pound frames. Plus there’s the dog doo factor.
With those dogs gone, I can take everyone outside without fear. There are still other dogs, but they’re much smaller and calmer. When we have a few spare minutes, I call Abbie, open the door, watch her and the dog race each other to run outside first, and bring the twins outside. I still insist on carrying the twins one at a time whenever possible due to a fear of dropping someone, so I carry one guy outside, leave him on the grass in the shade, and go back inside to grab his brother.
Abbie spends her time running around the yard. Sometimes she’ll go where I can’t see or hear her, but that’s okay because our dog is watching her. Meanwhile, I sit in the shade while the boys lie at my side doing whatever it is babies do outside. They don’t seem to enjoy the outdoors as much as Abbie did at that age, but that may be because they on get held half as much as she did. That means they can only watch trees from a distance.
* Her “fussy time” back then was also known as her “wake time.”
** Seriously. She could be a screaming mess of a meltdown, but as soon as she saw a tree up-close and swaying in the breeze she calmed down so fast you’d swear we slipped her an illicit substance that just kicked in.
posted by Matt at
11:55 PM
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