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:

• the day’s time outside consists of the short walk from the house to the car
• your three-year-old considers opening the car windows to be a satisfactory allotment of “fwesh air.”
• you kiddos get winded just watching the claymation dancers on pbs’ “superwhy.”
• your city was uncharacteristically cold this winter for an ungodly amount of time, and all anyone in your family wanted to do was huddle together under blankets by the fire.
• the only sunscreen your house is circa 1986, and it’s spf 4.

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.]