a peek inside the fishbowl

I heard that the Ottawa Citizen farms the layout of the paper out to a company in India. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

This happens to us more often than not. We meet someone new who lives in our neighborhood, they look at us, pause, and say, “I know you! You have THOSE GIRLS WHO ARE ALWAYS OUTSIDE!”

It’s true. We are the proud parents of the girls who are always outside. When you’re a kid, there is no place better to be.

Now that Spring is finally here I feel like our house has magically expanded and has become three times larger than it really is. Suddenly there is proper space for the girls to play. And I love it.

When the girls were smaller we hung out in our fenced backyard, but for the past few years we’ve moved our play to the front of the house. It’s sunnier, warmer, drier, and we have better access to the toy box in the garage. Besides, there’s always someone driving/walking/cycling by our house. Neighbors tend to congregate and chat (sometimes someone even brings out a bottle of wine) while the children pull every toy out of our garage. Playing on the front lawn is a very social event.

Don’t get me wrong, we play outdoors during the cold months too, but it’s not the same as playing outside when the weather is fine.

I love holding the the door wide open and yelling: “RUN LIKE THE WIND” while the girls scamper across the threshold. (I don’t know where that started exactly, but I on some level it gives them an extra boost, and they DO actually run like the wind.)

They are never bored outside. There is so much to do, they have no reason to be bored.

Our garage stores many things which they can use to keep themselves entertained: hockey sticks, buckets and shovels, a plasma car, bikes and scooters, sidewalk chalk (sometimes we make our own!), and balls of all kinds. Now that I am thinking about it I’ve realized there are a few items they almost always use for outdoor play:

• a large beach umbrella
• a pup tent
• a sleeping bag and blanket (not kept in the garage, but we have some reserved specifically for outdoor use)
• skipping ropes
• jars and buckets

It’s crazy how much play value they get out of these simple things. They rig up endless combinations, endless storylines, and it keeps them busy for hours. The jars are for making stews and potions and for bug collecting. The skipping ropes are for skipping sometimes, but are also used for making pulleys and horse harnesses and to tie up villans. The blankets are used to build shelters or just provide a cosy spot to read.

The water in our bird bath is frozen this morning, but it is going up to a balmy 12°C today. I can’t wait to get out there.

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This post is part of the Carnival of Play, hosted by Phd in Parenting