I’ve written a lot about my love of technology. Hey, I’m Pop Mommy. I love to DVR all my favorite television shows, listen to my iPod when I exercise, and play with my iPhone when I’m waiting in line. I’m always on my laptop. I blog, Facebook, Tweet, Pin, YouTube, Instagram, you name it.
And I believe my kids need to be tech savvy too. They love to play on the iPad. They take a computer class at school. Daniel can work the DVR like no one’s business. Annabel takes better photos than I do. It’s important because technology is something that will be with them their entire lives. They won’t know anything different.
But we do. We know a world without cell phones, DVDs, or computers. I hate to sound stodgy and say “it was a simpler time,” but it really was. It was about connecting with friends on your front yard or playground. I literally made a soup can telephone. We played kickball and made a four square game with chalk on my driveway. We had a see-saw competition in the park. We sold lemonade to the neighbors. It was so “Brady Brunch.” But I loved it and I treasure those memories of being outside with my friends. We rode bikes barefoot without helmets. We played freeze tag and “kick the can.” We’d roller skate on my carport for hours. We’d sit on the curb and wait for the ice cream man. We were always OUTSIDE.
I had the most amazing weekend with my family and it was because 90% of it was spent outside. The kids had a half day on Friday and we met friends at the park after school. The kids played for three hours straight in their dirty school uniforms. They searched for treasures in the trees behind the picnic tables and played impromptu games of soccer and follow the leader. They would only stop to take a bite of their lunch and then it was back to run and climb and hold hands and laugh. It was amazing.
On Saturday morning we drove an hour to a farm that has a corn maze. There were animals, giant slides, a cow train, and a hayride. The kids even shot ears of corn out of a cannon. I’ve never heard so much laughter. We went with some friends we had not seen in awhile and it was a perfect place to reconnect. There’s nothing like the fresh air and piles of hay and even a giant tub of corn kernels to create some memories. Everyone was dirty and smelly and HAPPY.
Yesterday my husband spend the entire afternoon building a booth for our school’s annual Fall Festival. (THANK YOU BABY YOU ARE MY HERO ALWAYS.) I thought I would corral the kids away from him so he could work and they would not accidentally drill their hand to a piece of plywood. But they wanted to be outside. So they stayed by our swing set and just played. They created a clubhouse complete with a sand bucket pulley system. They dug in the dirt. They ran in circles. I even caught a moment where they just were just siting on the bottom of the slide and talking. It was a beautiful day and I’m not just talking about the weather.
When I think back, some of my favorite family memories are when we were all unplugged and outside. So it turns out that my kids CAN have that simpler childhood. And I have a thousand digital photos to prove it.
