Misses playing outside
A wise man once said that when a person walks around a puddle instead of playing in it, that’s when he’s getting old. A child would jump into that very puddle with glee. That is the beauty of being a child. For a child, playing is a full time job. And why shouldn’t it be! Playing is the state where there is absolute absence of worries. Children are the happiest, fully alive and full of life when they are playing.
I do think it is important for children to play outside and not with so many toys that they can’t use their imagination. Use those cardboard wrapping paper tubes for a light saber, painting optional.
You will see a very happy little girl whose mom and dad cut up a refrigerator box and made a play house.
Joining a sport teaches a child so much about life. You can feel like a winner, realize you have just lost, but you have another chance at the next game. You learn to work together with others and to be with people that don’t like you, but that is OK.
Racing your bike from your house to your friends' a few miles away (before you get your driver's license) is a great way to clear your head.
I remember playing house with play dishes and empty boxes of food for our home on the entire front porch, while my sister was doing the same on the back porch.
We made up plays and expected applause.
That is not just in good weather. We made igloos and forts and pushed our friends into the snow or mud puddles in our yard.
It helps to have a little stream behind your house that backs up to a golf course. Perhaps there are nearby nature trails.Even better, walk the trails in the woods to find deer or see a fox take off.
Life uses every moment to help you grow and live in harmony with nature and enjoy just hanging out with friends. Outside was where we were free.
That sounds so old-fashioned, but we played hard and outside until the street lights came on and we were limited to being just in front of the house.
What we didn’t do was stare at a phone screen and text our friends when we could be with them.
We didn’t sit in the house in front of the TV playing a video game and trying to bump up the score on how many people we killed.
I think kids have missed out on a lot. Do dads still take their kids fishing?
