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Stay at Home Moms
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Playing Outside
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How often do your kids play outside? I know I don't go outside enough with DD. We have a pool in our backyard so I could NEVER leave her out there to even pop in to grab a drink. We do have a large grass area in the back but there's nothing out there to play with and it's not separated from the pool area. I know this sounds awful but I get bored and the grassy side of our yard is in the west sun which is brutal in the afternoon. DD wants to go outside but I can only play sidewalk chalk for so long before I feel like I'm going batty. As a kid I lived outside often riding my tricycle on my grandma's large patio when she was doing things inside. There are no kids her age around here and no one ever plays outside with the exception of the 10 year olds or so.
Help, I need some suggestions. DH travels 4 days a week so it's just the 2 of us quite often and my mom's groups friend have all had 2nd children so they're busy with their newborns. Any suggestions are welcome!
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Re: Playing Outside
How about taking a book outside to read while she plays? Get a beach umbrellafor shade? do painting or other indoor activity's outside?
I toss mine outside daily while I cook dinner, but we have a tiny worry free yard with a window looking out onto it from the kitchen. Before we moved to our nice safe neighborhood I would have never done that and we generally went to the park or took a walk a couple times a week.
Are you able to put up a fence or something to block off the pool? That way she could have a bit more freedom.
Try adding a sand or water table. Basketball hoop, soccer net, t-ball stand, etc to encourage new activities.
You can also setup a small kids picnic table within umbrella for shade and do crafts like painting or play doh, etc
Do you have a driveway or a quiet street to ride bikes on?
We spend an hour or two outside every day since DD has started walking unless extreme weather prevents us. She loves being outside, and stands at the door and cries if we don't go outside regularly... she'd stay out all day if I'd let her. We have a huge property and park across the street, but her favorite is still pushing her doll around in it's stroller out in the cul-de-sac, haha. I do a lot of gardening, and we like to pretend that she's actually helpful. She just does whatever while I work. We actually just came in from working on deheading some of the flower bushes that are done blooming, and prepping some pots for vegetables, even though it's drizzling outside. She was playing with some rocks, and throwing around the flowers I was trying to rake into a pile, and goofing around with the hose, etc.
She's probably happiest outside... other than the pool.
Can you put up a fence so she's safely separated from the pool? New yard toys? At the very least, get a pergola or an umbrella so you don't get too hot! And if you have wifi at your house, if it reaches that far you can always lounge on the interwebz while she plays
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Does she have a bike so you can go for walks? I'm sure Pinterest has gazillions of outdoor things you could do. My sons adore collecting all the nature things they can find in the yard.
We have a sandbox, tons of sand toys that also double as garden tools for them, a kid-sized push broom, a big tub we fill with water, a few toy trucks, a trike for DS2 and a scooter for DS1. They also love to "help" with yard work, i.e. dig in the dirt or dig for worms.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Most days, DS spends at least an hour outside, but often it is more. Today, we went to the zoo in the morning and spent another hour and a half outside this afternoon. Soon it will be too hot here to spend quite so much outside, but I will still aim for an hour. I'm a firm believer that fresh air leads to better sleep and general health.
Parks? Walks? My mom friends are having their seconds, but we just go over to their houses and play outside in their yards- that way, the new babies can spend time outside, too and have access to cribs, boobs, whatever. Can you swim in the pool a little every day?
We spend a couple hours outside in the afternoon at least 3 days a week. We also go to the park for a couple hours and we just joined a pool for the summer.
My kids love their water table, sand box, dirt, hose. They would love playing in the pool if we had one.
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Is there anyway you could get a fence for the pool? I would not be able to handle not having it fenced. I get your fear! Or just a fence down the middle of the yard? An oversized baby gate https://www.walmart.com/ip/8457890?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227001197665&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=13223011030&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem Only bigger obviously?
DD screams when we come in. I cannot imagine keeping her inside. I think DH may need to move the grill to the yard so I can gate off the deck. It's only two steps, but I worry she will fall down them onto the concrete when I'm not looking.
I'm kind of in the same boat. We don't go out often enough. If it's a nice day, DS does go out for 30 minutes to an hour with DH when he gets home from work, but we should go out more during the day.
We got a big swingset last month, but I feel like it's never a good time to go out because DD (5 months) is always about to need a feeding or a nap, or will just be cranky out there.
It's going to be hot here this week, so I want to set the kiddie pool up for DS, but I feel like that will be even more of a struggle with him wanting to stay out there and DD needing other things.
DD (5 years old) from IUI in 2012
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My boys would be outside from 8am to 8pm if I let them. We spend atleast 2 hours in the late morning/early afternoon outside- we eat our lunch outside. After dinner we are outside until about 8- it depends on how their nap went. Of course this is all depends on the weather.
We have a HUGE fenced yard complete with a playset, sandbox,water table, cozy coupes, big wheels, push mowers, baseball stuff, soccer balls and a kiddie pool when I fill it.
90% of the reason we bought our current house is the yard. It is huge, flat and we have a ton of windows to visualize it. They are outside almost every day after work/school and daily if we are home. My DD1 will literally play on the swingset/clubhouse for hours on end. They fight so much less outside and play really well together. We have a great deck and separate patio where I can sit under the umbrella and watch them without having to move around much (I am on light duty). Tomorrow is supposed to rain all day and I'm very worried about getting enough rest with them indoors all day! I may send them out in rainboots!
I would definitely invest in a fence around the pool and a sand/water table. My kids STILL play on a step 1 plastic slide I got on the side of the road. Look on freecycle and/or craig's list for inexpensive outdoor toys-- people love to get rid of that stuff this time of year. Balls, frisbees, bubbles, plastic golf clubs all are easy store, inexpensive and great outdoor play.
DD1 7/10/08 DD2 8/11/10 DS 7/2/13
This is the first year that we're outside nearly every day and I love it so much! DS gets bored in the house (understandably) and he needs room to really run off energy. We just got him a play set a few weeks ago and it was such a great purchase! He loves to play on his set. We also have a sandbox and he has a bubble mower that he likes to push around. He also spends quite a bit of time chasing the dog around. I'm very thankful that we have a backyard surrounded by a privacy fence. I'm usually outside with him, but I can run inside if I need to and I can do things in the kitchen and still see/hear him outside.
I think it sounds like your LO needs more things to do outside.
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Thank you ladies for all the great suggestions! I think I need to get DH to put a fence that separates the pool from the grassy area of the yard with a gate that DD can't open on her own so I could run for a minute to grab a drink. snack or to pee. It wouldn't be hard it's literally a straight line from where the pool patio ends and the grass begins. We do have a water table but she gets bored with it pretty quickly. It's very basic so I think we may need to invest in one with more things in it as well as some sort or pergola/tent to give us some shade from the west sun. We went out in the front yesterday evening and played on the sidewalk. She rode her scooter and little car and had a blast. She even managed to run into and play with the 6 year old twin boys and their 8 year old brother from next door. I know they wouldn't always want to play with her but your suggestions made be get off my butt and go outside for bit & it was great!