Where Have the Lazy Days of Summer Gone? | By Amy Kervin


When I was a kid growing up in the 1980’s, the end of the school year meant the beginning of long, slow summer days spent climbing trees, playing tag, building forts, and searching for tadpoles. I would leave the house right after breakfast, and aside from heading back to eat meals, I would be free to play outside until it got dark. At least that’s how I remember my childhood. Thinking back on it, I’m sure there were rainy days spent mainly inside and a lot more parameters around the days I was playing outside. But what I remember is the feeling of being free in the summer – free to play, free to explore, free to, well, be a kid. But summers no longer look like that for most children.

Children today on average spend half as much time outside as they did 20 years ago. A lot of factors contribute to this, but one of the biggest is how much time our children are spending on screens. The National Institute of Health’s Medline Plus reports that kids spend an average of 3 hours per day watching television and 5-7 hours in total on screens, which is about 50% of their wakeful time. 

Technology isn’t the only reason kids are spending less time outside. Things are different today than they were in the 1980’s. For one thing, most of us no longer allow our children to roam the neighborhood freely or play at the park for hours on end without supervision. And gone are the days where everyone has a backyard to play in. My kids, for instance, are city kids, and until our most recent move, we lived in condos and apartments. Most had a balcony or small patio, but some had no outdoor space at all. That’s a reality for more and more families these days. The fenced-in backyard that we currently enjoy, is a luxury not afforded to many city dwellers. And the freedom of roaming a neighborhood on your own is a privilege that most children are not granted today.

Yet we know that outdoor play is paramount for healthy development in children, not just for the physical benefits but also for social/emotional well-being. Outdoor play contributes to learning and instills a love of nature. Perhaps George Eliot said it best, We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.”

So how do we ensure our kids get the time they need outside to play? Well, although my kids will never experience summer quite the way I did, we are trying our best to give them a 1980ish summer. Here is how we are doing it:

  • We start our day at the local outdoor pool for swim lessons. It gets us outside first thing in the morning, exercising. And it gives a little structure to an otherwise mostly unstructured day.
  • We limit screen time. Our kids enjoy a half hour (sometimes an hour) of cartoons a day. Many days, they have no television at all. And we don’t allow them on an ipad or smart phone – so that’s it for screen time in our house.
  • We go to the beach. It’s too far to walk so we don’t get there as often as we would like, but we make a point to go whenever we can. Last night, for instance, we went to a local beach after work. We enjoyed a picnic dinner and an evening swim – as a bonus, it wasn’t busy and everyone slept soundly that night.
  • We have family meals outside. Whether we BBQ or prepare our meals indoors, the patio table becomes our dining table during the summer months.
  • We limit the kids’ extracurricular activities. Aside from their swimming, we haven’t scheduled any other activities this summer. We are deliberately trying to have a long, lazy summer together.
  • We take at least one ‘daycation’ a week. We don’t have the finances for a summer vacation this year, but we aren’t letting that stop us from enjoying outings in our own beautiful city – kayaking, mini-golf, go-karts, forest hikes, bike trails – you name it.
  • We go on picnics. Summers are short in Canada, and we are taking every opportunity to eat outside while we can.
  • We play at the park…almost daily. On the really hot days, we try to hit up the ones with a splash pad or wading pool.
  • We go camping (okay, we haven’t yet, but it’s on the list). We aren’t really campers so we’ve just planned a few overnight trips, but the kids are excited about it just the same.
  • We play outside. Every day. As much as possible.

It isn’t the 1980’s anymore and the reality is that summers look different for kids today for a variety of reasons. However, what hasn’t changed is that children need to get outside and play. In an age where those needs are being met less and less frequently, I am going to take every opportunity to get my kids outside playing, chasing, climbing, and doing the things that, at least in my mind, constitute being a kid….even in 2017.

Amy


Hi! I’m Amy Kervin, and I was born and raised in Miramichi, New Brunswick. I am a mama of two, an educator with a BEd from Saint Thomas University, and an advocate for children and the parents who love them. I have experienced what it’s like to be a parent who teaches full-time, stays at home with my children and most recently, works from home – and I can’t decide which is most challenging! I know the way we parent matters, and I have recently channeled that passion into my own website and blog, Love Uncluttered. I strive to live simply, parent gently and connect deeply with my children. I don’t enjoy every moment of parenting, but I find moments of joy in every day. And even on the days it’s really hard, I wouldn’t give this parenting gig up for the world.

Likes: coffee, wine…more wine, yoga, and all things design.

Dislikes: sexism, beige, clutter.

 

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