I love the Summer. I am not a cold weather girl. Fact. Never have been and never will be. And this quality of mine has only grown in strength since having children. I'll tell you for why :
In the dry, warmer weather you can throw open the back door / patio door / conservatory door, whichever you have and let that lovely air wade through, and if your children are anything like mine, they see an escape route out into freedom (well the garden) and charge towards it.
That fact alone is worth its weight in gold. The children are out of the house, in the fresh air (the good old sea air for mine) and what does fresh air do? At first, I admit it makes them a bit hyper but; it tires them out. It tires them out like nothing else can seem to do and I love that fact. Almost as much as I love shoes.
But alas, we live in good old Blighty and consistent and reliable weather is just one field that we are never going to win a gold medal in. Thus I am a bit of a fanatic about getting the kids out into the air for as long as physically possible on nice days and why I have allowed the back garden to become a mini playground (i.e no plants or lovely items that can be destroyed by footballs) with the latest installment being a trampoline.
The kids love it. I love it. And we were loving it very much weather wise up to today 'when the rain came' and the realisation struck me that today was a 'mummy and boys only day' and I was going to be confined to the house all day, all alone.
Once the first few moments of irrational fear passed I had to get out the 'Entertainment Committee' hat. Now if I had boys, closer in age and both able bodied then finding a day of activities would be easi-er. But unfortunately that is not the case. J1, my eldest wants to put everything to his mouth and has to be watched like a hawk with any toy that is given to him and is wheelchair confined, J2, my toddler currently has the attention span of a fruit bat. I was up against it. Especially as I hate the TV being on throughout the day and the idea of sitting on the Wii in the summer fills me with unwarranted rage. We were going to P.L.A.Y.
Like any stay at home parent, I came out fighting. Remembering all those useful articles from baby and toddler magazines and netmum's.com I decided to crack out all my old CD's and create a mini-disco with snack time being incorporated to look like a mini-buffet. We pulled out old photo boxes (probably more fun for me!). We dug out all Jacob's old favourite books that had since been deemed no longer favourite and relegated to the back of the wardrobe and it was like producing a library for him. We pulled out toys that were bought last Christmas that were played to death for the first two months and then put in drawers, wardrobes, tidy boxes. But the favourite thing of the day for them both, was finding a large pack of stickers and sticking them all over each other, for some reason this made them laugh the most. I don't know why and I don't care, it just did!
So at the end of this rainy day what have I achieved. Well no housework got done, no washing got hung out, no phone calls got made or filing put away, however I type this blog fully satisfied. I spent the day playing and giving my children good quality old fashioned time, which I, as I imagine for any parent, can sometimes get lost in the 'need to just get this / that / the other done'.
Now I am not relishing the thought of the winter months, and cold or not if it's dry then outside time for that blessed fresh air will be had (I don't want my kids to have the same dislikes as me!) but in the deep of winter, in rain or snowy climate, if we do have an indoor day I am no longer scared of it. We proved today that we can have immense fun without the need for the TV or a computer or going out. And I don't know about the kids, but it sure wore me out!
* Any idea's for 'rainy day activities' that would be suitable for a wheelchair bound child and toddler would be greatly appreciated! *
Another great blog Hun xx
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