The above is Belle outside at my mother's house yesterday. She was outside all afternoon, running amok with the dogs (we brought Sonja to Mimi's to celebrate Mothers Day and have a playdate with Mollie), raking leaves, picking up sticks, finding Easter eggs she missed the first time around (don't ask ...), climbing on rocks, and doing all sorts of the things that five-year-olds do outdoors.
Belle is watching "Caillou" on television right now. And eating a rice cake. And drinking chocolate milk. I was going to take a picture for comparison, but my bedroom is a pigsty and I was kind of mortified to post pics of it for public viewing, plus I need a new memory card for my Blackberry (and we still haven't replaced the camera).
The point is, though, in one scene, Belle is outside in the sunshine getting exercise and playing and bonding with nature (and golden retrievers and black labs and her family). In the other, she's sitting on her mother's bed watching television (the black lab's sitting next to her).
The really sad thing is, if I asked Belle right now if she wanted to go outside, she'd be in the mudroom getting her sneaks on before I was finished speaking. I can try to make myself feel better by saying that it's past her bedtime (she goes to bed at 6:30 ... yeah, I don't get it either) but I'm keeping her up until Pythagorus is home so she can say good night to him (he had to return his uncle's truck about an hour away, but he'll be home any second ... then we'll read our bedtime story and do the bedtime routine), but the point is that we could easily be outside playing right now. And we're not. Because I suck.
I mean, obviously I'm not the only parent that allows their children to watch television. I'd even go so far as to say that both my girls watch less television than most kids. However, it doesn't make it right that I'm sitting here on the computer (well, at least I'm in the same room ...) while one of my children is watching TV and the other is ... well, on a computer of her own. The fact that I worked all day is absolutely no excuse.
So what do you think? Do kids spend enough time outside? Is television the culprit? Parents? Would kids prefer to be playing outside? Are these habits that are taught early truly necessary to a child's health as an adult?
And please don't mention my inadequacies as a parent ... I'm well aware : )
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That is the SWEETEST picture! I love that! ;-) I think it's healthy for kids to have time outside. I used to play outside as long as I could as a kid. I loved the summer nights when it stayed light until around 8:00pm. Back when things were simple...*sigh*
ReplyDeleteYou're not inadequate. You're normal. My daughter gets a good deal of both in the summer. But winter? Well, don't have much choice in the matter when it's below 0 outside.
ReplyDeleteI think it's healthy for kids to be outside, but I also think using the TV as a break occasionally isn't a bad thing either. Every morning, Xander gets to watch TV while my younger son is napping and I'm catching up on blogs. Then when Ethan gets up, we run, play, bond with nature etc.
ReplyDeleteEh--I dunno. I mean, I want to say that kids don't spend enough time outside, but then that implies that there is an acceptable "right" amount of time, and I don't believe that's true. I'll just say that each individual kid should have a realistic balance of all activities in their life and that, in general, my uneducated opinion is that many children aren't balanced.
ReplyDeleteWhen my so was younger he didn't go outside that much and some of it was because I didn't want to go outside. There were times that I let him watch way more tv than I should have allowed. Now that he's older he goes out almost all of the time. The poing is, you do the best you can and that's all that matters. The fact that you're concerned about it, just shows that you're a caring person.
ReplyDeleteYou're a great Mom!!! I think it's hard here on the east coast to do as much outdoor time since the weather has so many extremes...In California, as a kid, I spent all my time outside...but then, we didn't have snow or high humidity...Spring and summer on the east coast are the easiest times to be outside...Summer is good as long as you watch the hydration...but winter, unless you're sledding...no can do. So, I think a Mom has to make decisions each day...taking all things into consideration, and giving herself some grace as well...as long as moms are aware, and trying to avoid the T.V. trap, then there's no need to beat oneself up! Happy Belated Mother's Day, btw! My in-laws are visiting, and so I don't have as much time for blogging right now...but thanks for stopping by!! This is a great topic of discussion! Kudos to you! ~Janine
ReplyDeleteI think there should be a good balance. I'm very much allergic to everything outside, so we don't go out much. But when Daddy's home--especially over the weekend, the kidlets are able to go to the park.
ReplyDeleteOh please.......stop it. When I had only one child he never watched t.v. but then I had his sister and then his brother, and exactly what is he supposed to do when I am sitting there nursing? That would be nice if he sat quietly and played while I breastfed his siblings, but in reality he would destroy stuff, so the t.v. went on and stayed on.
ReplyDeleteYou just have to find a balance of exercise and leisure time.
Important for the kidlets to be outside soaking up the Vit. D, but also so they can expand their attention spans (that tv & computers diminish), learn to entertain themselves through outdoor play, not become hothouse flowers and get physical exercise. You're doing fine as long as they play in- and outdoors sometimes. :)
ReplyDeleteSome kids get outdoors enough, some don't. It partly depends on where you live, partly on the parents and partly on the child.
ReplyDeleteWhen my eldest was a young boy we could barely keep him inside. Now he's 15, it's hard to get him outside, though he is reverting to the fresh-air boy he used to be. My 9 year old won't stay still long enough to be inside, especially when he has a friend over. My 13 year old is on the cusp of being a temporary couch potato, but still has enough desire to go out.
Place plays a big part. What if you live in a block of flats (apartments) in a rough inner city neighbourhood? Do you want your kids outside?
In short, most kids want to be outside and enjoy the experience, it's just that some can't be outside.
I feel so guilty about my daughter watching so much TV! I wished we had some more children in this neighborhood with whom she could play. But now that the good weather has come, I drag myself to some park every day. The guilt though, it never goes away.
ReplyDeleteI don't think most kids spend enough time outside simply because they don't seem to care what's going on outside these days. I mean, my sister and I watched Saturday morning cartoons when we were kids, but by and large, we were outside every second of the day that we could be. When I was a kid, parents were shoveling their kids outside and barring the door behind them. Now, the parents aren't home (not because they don't want to be maybe, but just the same) to shove their kids outside. And there's so much techno crap that blinks and makes noises to catch kids' attention. Sometimes, I feel old. We talk about playing spotlight tag, or moonlight baseball, or riding horseback on full moons, and kids look at me like I need to be sent to the nut ward. Dude, I'm 28!
ReplyDeleteBut hey, I write, and most of the time that's an indoor thing. I've got friends with a little boy and a girl on the way, and both of them work. But when they're together, they're outside. One night last year we camped out at their house in the woods and when the fire went out and there was no light, foxfire was everywhere glowing. We stayed up for hours walking around finding hollow logs with it growing inside. Their little boy LOVES nature. Sometimes, it's what you do outside, not how long you're out there...
We are in an apartment in the middle of the city. There are busy streets on all sides. That doesn't excuse the fact that I should take my son to the park every weekend, and don't. He plays outside at school and we go to my parents a lot so that he can play in their big backyard. Still, I feel as though I have a cooped up little boy and there is a lot of guilt that comes with that.
ReplyDeleteSome day we will cave to the market (which is still grossly overpriced here in oil country) and get a house where he can safely roam. But the truth is, I don't know that I will ever allow him the same freedoms of exploration as my parents did me. It just seems so dangerous out there.
I have to take the same approach as A. Grey, I think kids spend way too much time indoors nowadays. When I was younger I had a babysitter after school and the only time we were indoors was when it was raining, and we didn't watch TV we played barbies and whatever in the basement. Also I read a lot as a child, mainly because I didn't have tv in my room or video games or anything, Cartoons were only on saturday mornings and that really was TV Time and I had an early bedtime, both my parents worked. So I don't know I think kids nowadays are so overloaded with technology. Maybe it is about time we get back to the simple time of playing outside.
ReplyDeleteI think most kids spend too much time indoors, but I'm talking about kids who spend the whole day indoors going from the tv to the computer to the Play Station. Clearly yours do not qualify you for a full dose of guilt!
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were little, all electronics went off after breakfast and stayed off until just before dinnertime. They didn't always want to go outside, and there was plenty of whining ("I'm booooored") but overall they were far more active and industrious than they would have been otherwise.