the monkey and i made these creatures as part of the great outdoor challenge. here’s a mouse:
here’s a dragonfly:
and last, but not least, this is apparently a rare species of bird called the “pick” bird (pronounced “pick boowd”).
though there have been days when i thought that the playground at the pediatrician’s office was going to have to count as our outside time, we have somehow managed to play outside every day since we signed up for the great outdoor challenge.
today’s adventure was a neighborhood “nature hike,” which, like many of my favorite activities, involved trespassing. look what we found in our neighbors’ yards!
though i cannot say that the boys and i were much of a help to my gardening guru father-in-law, yesterday’s vegetable/herb planting event was a roaring success, complete with a picnic lunch. this outdoor challenge pledge is fun!
let’s face it. pledging to play outside every day for the month of april is sort of like pledging to drink wine every night (oh, wait! i already do that) or pledging to buy something new from anthropologie every day. the garage doors lift, and out burst two little bears, fresh from a long hibernation and hungry for the sunshine.
they are very comfortable with outdoor toys: our beanbag game, sidewalk chalk, the tricycle, various balls, and a golf club. i’m thrilled with this. but i hope to also guide them into the spaces where the main events are things like dandelions, earthworms, and dirt.
today, the boys and i will be spending some time with my father-in-law, who grows enough beautiful vegetables every year for a wide circle of family and friends. this year, he’s designating a little plot for our family, and we’ll make the trek to the burbs a couple of times a week to dig around and learn how this gardening thing works. it’s not that i haven’t grown my own tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and herbs. i have taken great delight in planting all of these things. it’s just that the only thing that i ever end up eating is basil. if there are any squirrels, slugs, or racoons reading this post, let me just take this opportunity to say, YOU’RE WELCOME.
do you have nature deficit disorder? i have looked up this dreadful illness in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition (DSMIV), and here are the symptoms:
here i go again, diagnosing myself and my family with DSMIV disorders, even those with symptoms that i made up myself. but in a recent new york times article called playtime is over, david elkind lamented that our children are more comfortable with technology than they are with nature, and more familiar with global security threats than they are with the ecosystems playing out in their own backyards. and as for the term nature deficit disorder, that’s the language of dr. cheryl charles, president and ceo of the children and nature network, which has challenged parents to offer alternatives to nature-deficit disorder during the month of april.
lisa, who blogs at 5 orange potatoes, has organized “the great outdoor challenge,” wherein 120 parents (so far) have committed to schlepping their kids outside every day for the month of april, rain or shine. yours truly has just become parent number 121, and the monkey and the bird are in for a real treat! along with the time outside, parents are encouraged to take and post pictures of all their outdoor glory. we’re in. lisa’s got some great info on her website about things to do with dandelions, fabric dying, and other outdoor activities.
now, apart from compulsively checking my blog for updates, a neurosis that i hope you will adopt, don’t you want to walk away from your computer and out into the great wide open?
[as you can see from this month’s pictures, though we’re late to the official outdoor challenge game, we’ve been unknowingly living up to its stipulations.]
