I just love being outside - don't you? I love the beach, hiking, walking, going to parks - anywhere really. I never really had to make an effort to be outside. I just naturally gravitated toward being outside.
Probably because when I was a kid, my parents encouraged me to be outside - ride bikes, roller skate, walk, run, swim - just play outside.
And this is something I am encouraging my kids to do and it's working. Since they were born - they both enjoy being out and about outside. Not because it's forced - because they sincerely enjoy it. It helps that we have a great back yard and the time to be outside, of course, but it makes me so happy to see them being active and just being kids.
This is why I was so disturbed and saddened when I came across this article last week on Cafe Mom. The article itself is great - 22 ideas for what to do with your kids outside.
The part I found disturbing was a statistic they shared:
"According to the study, highlighted in The New York Times, only 51 percent of parents said they take a child "for a walk or to play in yard, a park, or a playground" once a day. The stats were worse for girls rather than boys (parents of boys were 16 percent more likely to take them outside for play)."51%? Yikes.
I thought again about that article today - ironically it was around 6:30 a.m. when my kiddos were already begging to go outside. Which again, I love - just after I have some coffee. :)
After eating some breakfast, we were outside by 9:00 a.m. I hopped on a conference call while they played and by just after 10 - the kiddie pool was filled up and ready for play.
There was a slight problem - while it was already nearing 70 degrees out - the water from the hose was really cold.
What's a mom to do?
Well, I "figured" out something last year when I ran into the same issue of early morning fun combined with the fabulous warm weather & too-cold water.
I'm pretty certain I'm not the first person to think of it (nor do I claim to be) but it's a pretty good idea which I'm going to share with you. Would you expect any less?
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| Hurray! |
So what's the big idea?
Add HOT water so it's not so cold.
So, I went back inside and filled up two huge pots of water and put them on the stove to boil. You could also simply run the water to get it super hot to get the same effect - but it wastes water and also our water heater is set lower so it never gets that hot (safety first!).
After ten whiny minutes later - ta-da!
A "heated" kiddie pool. Oooh, now that's a genius idea :)
Until then - this will do.
Happy kiddos = Happy Mama
I hope you're having a beautiful day and getting outside for the kiddos - and remember - for YOU, too :)
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